Persona 3: Voodoo
by MoridinBelmont
Summary: Persona 3 with an OC instead of the silent protagonist.  Takes major turns off the plot in some places.  Pairings eventually but not yet.
1. Chapter 1: Petro

As soon as he stepped off the train, the world turned green.  
The sudden change caught him Devyn off guard, but it didn't really surprise him. He just quickly dodged around the mass of coffins that had sprouted up in front of him and continued on his way. "Man, clock was off again," he said as he began rummaging through his bag, "At least I managed to fix something to do in this bitch." He grabbed a music player out of his bag and unhooked his headphones from the one on his belt. He hooked up to the duct tape covered mess and had moonlight sonata playing through the second movement. "Damn, must have kicked on while on the train." He punched a few buttons and had it restarting while he continued on his way.

As he walked down the road, sidestepping coffins everywhere, he wondered at how many people where out at midnight here in Port Island, Japan. Back home in Louisiana, everyone would have been at home either asleep or partying in the front yard, but he guessed there was always some differences when you traveled halfway across the world. He grabbed a Dr. Pepper can from the pocket of his trench coat and popped the top.

Finally, halfway through his soda, he made it to the dorm where he was told he'd be staying. It was on what seemed to be a relatively quiet road, so he'd at least be able to get a little sleep tonight when everybody turned back into humans. He quickly let himself in and froze, there in the middle of the floor, was a little kid in old prisoner clothes. "You're late," he said. "Yeah, took a little walk around. Didn't figure anyone would still be human." Devyn looked at the boy. He couldn't have been more than twelve, but he seemed way too calm for what was going on. The boy chuckled, "I don't really think that applies to me. Now, if you want to proceed, you'll have to sign the contract." He gestured to the counter, where a plain contract sat with a quill and pot of ink next to it, "Don't worry, all it says is that you will take responsibility for your actions." Devyn walked over and picked up the contract, "Nevertheless, I don't sign anything without reading it first." As Devyn scanned the page, he looked over at the boy again. He stood there patiently waiting, his eyes never leaving Devyn. It was a little disconcerting, to say the least.

"I chooseth this fate of mine own will, huh...? Fancy wording, but it doesn't look like it'll come back to haunt me." He turned and grabbed the quill and quickly scribbled 'Devyn Sullivan' on the dotted line. Of course the ink, like any liquid when the sky turns green, had been changed to blood.  
And Devyn still had his Dr. Pepper in hand.

Try not to think about it.

Prison Boy grabbed the contract when he was done and looked at the signature, "No one can escape time, it delivers us all to the same end," He flicked his wrist and the contract disappears, "you can't plug your ears and cover your eyes." That started to creep Devyn out, so his smart-ass kicked on. He flicked his wrist and a pair of sunglasses appeared in his hand, "The truth shines even through closed eyelids." He placed the glasses on his face and watched the child's mouth widen from a creepy smirk to a smile, "Glad to see you understand. And so it begins." He moved backwards and disappeared into the shadows. Devyn leaned against the counter to finish his soda when a voice called out, "Who's there!"

He looked over to see a girl about his age, with brown hair and a pink cardigan. She had a leg holster just below her short skirt. Devyn pushed off the counter to face her and remove his glasses, he flashed her a grin and said, "Devyn Sullivan, nice to meet you,_ma cherie_." She seemed a little thrown off by this, which was what he had been going for. Too many crazy women had pointed weapons at him for him to be a jackass now. "I was told I would be staying here while I finished my schoolin'." Another girl had come down the stairs while Devyn spoke and he turned to greet her, but stopped when he saw her. "Takeba," she said, "calm yourself." She turned to Devyn. "I didn't think you'd arrive so late. I'm Mitsuru Kirijo, one of the students in this dorm."

He took a second to look at her long red hair and perfectly arranged uniform, then stepped forward and bowed, "Le plaisir de vous rencontrer, ma dame. Mon nom est Devyn Sullivan" Her voice was surprised as she replied, "_Vous parlez le francais_?" Devyn nodded,"_Oui, mon amour_." Her face flamed red and miss Takeba butted in, "Who's he?" Devyn could tell he wasn't going to like her very much, but stepped back as Mitsuru composed herself and replied "He's a transfer student here. It was a last minute decision to assign him here. He'll eventually be moved to a dorm in the boys' dorm." Devyn looked back at Mitsuru, "This is a girl's only dorm?" She shook her head, "Actually, it's coed."

"Then I'd like to request I not be transferred." He said. The girls looked at him, "I already know where this place is." That seemed to satisfy Mitsuru, but Takeba leaned close to her and said, "Is it gonna be okay for him to be here?" Devyn laughed, startling the girls, "I'm Cajun, honey. I may flirt, but I promise I'm harmless." Mitsuru smirked and said to the other girl and said, "There you have it. About the rest we'll have to see. Mr. Sullivan, this is Yukari Takeba, she'll be a junior this spring, like you." He smiled at her, "We've met. I hope I didn't scare you,_ ma cherie_." She shook her head, "N-not at all."

Mitsuru then said, "It's getting late. Your things should already be in your room. It's at the end of the hall on the second floor." Yukari stepped forward, "I'll show you the way." "No need, you should be getting your rest as well. If you'll give me the key, I can bid you both _bonne nuit_." Yukari passed him the key and headed up the stairs, looking anxious. Mitsuru turned to follow her and Devyn called out, "_Reves doux, ma beaute_." She blushed again and answered, "_Merci, bonne nuit_." She went up the stairs and Devyn waited a while in the common room, getting a feel for the place. It was comfortably, if sparsely, furnished. It had a TV in the corner and a kitchen area separate from the dining room. To Devyn it seemed like the kind of place where rich kids were sent by their parents to get them away. But it didn't have that empty, snooty feel that he would have imagined. Instead, it felt more like the whole place was waiting for something. Finally, Devyn began to feel tired and made his way up to his room. There was a bed, an armoire, and a desk already in the room, and two boxes in the middle of the floor. He pushed the box marked "Clothes" to the armoire and the one marked "Other" to the desk. Next, he grabbed his pillow out of his backpack, crashed hard on the bed, and was out.

The next morning, he found out that he would most likely be waking up before the whole dorm this year. He had basically stayed up twenty-five hours, woke up before everyone, and still felt like he had overslept. So, being as quiet as he could, he went to shower and get dressed in the new uniform. He left the tie out and the top button undone, but then saw that the top of a scar could be seen over the shirt. He debated covering it, then decided it wasn't worth it. He went back to his room and grabbed his wallet, watch, and chain with the cross of Saint James and went down to cook breakfast. Before long, Mitsuru came down the stairs and saw him cooking, "Ah, Mr. Sullivan. I didn't think you'd be up so early." Devyn turned and smiled at her, "I've never been one to sleep in. And please don't be so formal with me, _mon coeur_. I'm Devyn. Sit, I'll fix you a plate." Mitsuru seemed shocked at his familiarity, but quickly composed herself and gave a small smile, "Very well." As she took a seat at the small kitchen table, Devyn said over his shoulder, "I don't know what y'all eat for breakfast over here, so forgive me if this seems strange, but I promise if you try it, you'll love it." As he said that, he placed a plate down in front of her.

"What is this?" She asked, but Devyn shook his head, "Nuh-uh. You try it, then I'll tell you." She gave him a doubtful look, but he handed her a fork and she took a small bite. She chewed for a second, then her face lit up, "_C'est magnifique_!" He grinned, "You flatter me, _madmoiselle_. It's nowhere near as good as my _Maw-maw_ makes it, but I'm glad you like it." She took another bite as he made his own plate, "Now can you tell me what this is?" He looked at her and nodded, "It's called eggs sardou. It's poached eggs with creamed spinach and artichoke tops with hollandaise sauce."

"It's wonderful."

"Well, thank you. We Cajun like to hear people like our food." They finished their breakfast and he washed their plates in the sink. "Now, I think I should be heading to school." Mitsuru said. He grabbed his uniform jacket off his chair and went to open the door for her, "If you don't mind, could I walk with you? I don't really know where the building is." She nodded, "Of course." They set off for the train station and made it in time to catch the next out. The place was crowded, so Devyn automatically took Mitsuru's hand so they wouldn't get separated and led her to an open seat. He turned and saw her blushing and looking at their hands, and he quickly let go, "I'm sorry if I've embarrassed you, _ma chere_. Here, I've found you a seat." She nodded and sat without a word. The ride to the school was silent and after a while Devyn was staring out the window. A noise caught his attention and he looked over to see a girl in a school uniform over by the door. She looked like she was about to cry and it took him a minute to see it was because someone was reaching out from the crowd to grope her chest.

Devyn started forward and slid through the group until he was behind the fat man that was assaulting the girl. The man was breathing heavily and was clearly getting off in the middle of the train. Devyn grabbed the man by the man by the back of the neck and slammed him into the door. Before the man could yell, Devyn had the arm he was using to grope the girl pinned behind his back where it was about to snap. "Now, that is very ungentlemanly, sir. I suggest you apologize to the young lady." He looked behind him where the girl in question was staring at him with wide eyes behind her glasses. "Ma'am, this man has something he wants to say to you." The girl stepped forward hesitantly, and Devyn turned the guy to face her. At first the man tried to be tough, and said, "I ain't got nothing to apologize for." Then Devyn yanked his arm out of the socket. When the man finished screaming, Devyn said, "If you want your arm back, you will apologize." The man finally whimpered out an apology and they both looked at the girl who was trying to hide behind her straight brown hair. When she felt their gaze on her she looked up, then quickly nodded and went back to trying to hide. Devyn then snapped the man's arm back in place and said, "Friend, I think it'd be best if you found another way around in the mornings from now on. Understand?" The man quickly agreed and ran through the now opening doors.

Devyn finally noticed all the people in the train who had turned to look at him, including Mitsuru. "What, the hell, y'all lookin' at?" he asked in his loud voice. Everyone quickly went back to their conversations except for Mitsuru and the girl. Devyn walked up to her first and asked, "Are you all right, ma'am?" She nodded without looking up. "Do you go to Gekkoukan High?" She nodded again, "I'm Devyn Sullivan, I'll be starting at Gekkoukan today, nice to meet you." The girl looked up and quietly said, "Chihiro F-F-Fushimi," Devyn smiled at her and continued, "Listen, Fushimi-Chan, I know stuff like what happened can be scary, and you may not want to talk about that with me, but you need to talk to somebody about it. It'll help, I promise." She looked at him and said, "Okay..." He nodded and said, "Good, now I want you to come stand over here with me so I can watch for any more guys like that." He started back toward Mitsuru and looked back to make sure Chihiro was following him. When they made their way back to Mitsuru's seat, she said, "Sullivan, do you mind telling me just what you were doing over there?" Devyn rubbed the back of his head, "Yeah, I guess you would have just seen me hurting the guy not what happened before,.." He glanced over at Chihiro and said, "I don't think this is the best place to bring it up, actually." Mitsuru glared at him and said, "Fine, but don't think I'm going to forget about this." Devyn wasn't liking the way this was looking for his future when Chihiro spoke up, "Please don't be mad at him, Kirijo-sempai. He was defending me. That man, he..." Chihiro then lost her nerve and went back to trying to be invisible.

Devyn watched Mitsuru's face as she went through confusion at what Chihiro was trying to say, understanding, rage, relief, then finally sympathy. She couldn't say much besides, "Oh." They went back to everyone being quiet until the school came into view and the train barreled on to the station. The doors opened and everyone began filing out and Devyn made sure to be right behind Chihiro so nobody could get a quick squeeze in while he wasn't there. Finally the crowd began to thin out and the three began to head towards the school. "Here we are, Gekkoukan High." Mitsuru announced. Chihiro ran forward and Mitsuru was about to go after her when Devyn stopped her, "She needs a little time by herself. I don't know how many times that's happened to her before I saw it, and she needs to vent those feelings before she'll be ready to talk to anybody. But if she comes to you to talk, I hope you'll listen to her." Mitsuru looked at him for a while before she nodded, "You're right. You seem pretty familiar with this, Sullivan."

"Please, Mitsuru-chan. I told you there's no need to be formal with me. But to answer your unspoken question, I'm no stranger to trauma, either mental or physical." That last statement seemed to confuse her but before she could say anything else, he headed in to the building. When she caught up he was looking around in confusion, she walked up behind him and asked, " You don't know where you're going, do you?" He turned, "I just figured I'd ask somebody when I got in here, but apparently there's some issues with me not being Japanese." Devyn instantly regretted that statement as he watched her face darken, "Oh, really? Would you recognize any of these people if you saw them again?" He looked her in the eye and said, "I most certainly would not. I can handle that part myself, Mitsuru-Chan. Once people get to know me the prejudice will go away. For right now I'm more worried about where the faculty office is so I can find out what class I'm in." And with that Mitsuru calmed down, although she still looked less than pleased to hear her fellow students were being discriminatory, "It's over this way."

Mitsuru showed him the door to the faculty office then excused herself to take care of her own business. He entered and scanned the room to find someone who could help him. As his eyes fell on a woman, she turned and noticed him, "Oh, are you the new student?" Devyn smiled, "Oui, c'est moi." The lady looked confused until he nodded and said, "Yes, ma'am." She looked down to one of her papers, "Devyn Sullivan, eleventh grade, correct?" he nodded, "Wow, you've lived in a lot of places. Let's see, ten years ago, your mother...!" She gasped. Here it comes, "I'm sorry. I've been so busy I haven't had time to read this beforehand. I'm Miss Toriumi. I teach composition. Welcome to our school." I bowed to her, "Please don't feel sorry for me. I thank you for your gracious welcome and hope to be worthy of your teaching talents." She smiled, "My, aren't you the charmer." I smiled. "Have you seen the classroom assignments?" Miss Toriumi asked. He nodded, "I'm class F."

"That's my class. But first we need to go to the auditorium. The Welcoming Ceremony will be starting soon." He walked with her to the auditorium. Once there, she pointed to an area where her class was sitting and he nodded and sat down. He tried to listen to the Principal's speech but the man was so boring and unorganized that he fell asleep. He woke up when he heard people moving around and followed them to the classroom.  
-

After classes, Devyn decided to head to the shopping district to pick up some groceries when some dude just walked up into his personal space and said, "Sup, dude? How's it going?" Devyn backed up a step and asked, "Who are you?" The guy straightened up and said, "Me? I'm Junpei Iori. Nice to meet ya." I offered him a hand and he shook it vigorously, "I transferred here when I was in eighth grade. I know how tough it is being the new kid. So I wanted to say, 'hey'. See what a nice guy I am?" Yukari chose this time to walk up and said, "At it again? I swear, you'll talk to anyone if they'll listen. Did you ever think you might be bothering someone?" Devyn laughed, "Now, now, Takeba-Chan, no harm done. He was just trying to be friendly." Junpei smiled, "Yeah!"

Yukari wasn't convinced, "If you say so." She turned to me, "It looks like we're in the same room, huh?" He grinned, "It must be fate." Yukari laughed, "Fate? Yeah, right." Junpei butts in, "Hello, did you forget I'm in this class too?" But Yukari ignored him, "Actually, Devyn-kun, I meant to ask you. You didn't say anything about last night, did you?" Devyn said, "Of course not, ma chere. But you may want to choose your words better next time." He pointed to Junpei, who was staring slack-jawed at Yukari, "L-Last night...?" She panicked, "W-Wait a minute! Don't get the wrong idea! Listen! I just met him yesterday, and there's absolutely nothing between us!" Devyn feigned offense, "Nothing! Aww, ma chere, you wound me!" She turned to him, "Shut up! Jeez... I've gotta go. I've got something to take care of for the archery team. But, you better not start any rumors!" And with that she stormed off.

Junpei chuckles, "Ah, who cares? No one takes rumors seriously, anyway. She's so paranoid... Heheh, this is gonna be a fun year. I can feel it! Hey, if you're not doing anything, you wanna hang out before we head home?" Devyn said, "Actually, I was gonna cook a big meal for all the folks in the dorm, so I need to get moving to pick up the stuff before too late, I want it to be done when everyone gets back. If you want you can come eat with us." Junpei looked at Devyn, "I don't know, can you even cook." Devyn looked at him, "Boy, now you gotta come, you done insulted my honor as a Cajun. You comin' wit' me, and you gonna eat the best thing you ever tasted since you sucked yo' mamma's titty." Devyn grabbed him and headed out to grab the groceries.  
-

Later, Mitsuru walked in and saw Devyn wearing an apron standing over a big pot. He looked over and said, "Bonjour, mamselle. Hungry?" She smiled and said, "Famished, what are you making now?" He wagged a finger at her, "You know how this goes. You try it before I tell you. Oh, before I forget, I invited a friend from school to eat with us tonight, so I want you to go finish your homework and get back down here in time to eat, alright?" She seemed amused by his tone and headed toward the stairs, "As you wish, Devyn-kun." After a while everyone was down in the dining room where they found the table set and Devyn standing with his big pot. He noticed a silver haired youth in the back of the group and nodded, "How ya doin', Devyn Sullivan." He returned the nod and said, "Akihiko Sanada." Everyone sat down and Devyn began pouring a large helping into everyone's bowl. Then, Junpei came down from Devyn's room where he'd decided to snoop around instead of doing his homework. Yukari noticed and said, "Junpei, what are you doing here?"

Devyn eyed her with his best angry Maw-maw impression and she sat back down, "Everyone, this is Junpei Iori and I invited him over to eat. The boy be too skinny anyway, y'all Japanese don't eat right. Be polite, now Iori-San, sit." He sat down and took his hat off. Everyone tasted their food while Devyn poured a bowl for Junpei and went to get his own helping. "Wow, this is awesome." He heard Akihiko say, "Amazing!" Yukari spouted. Mitsuru chuckled, "I had the same reaction when he made me breakfast this morning. He is a magnificent cook. Though I've never tasted this kind of food. What is this?" This time the boy went for a heavy Cajun accent and said, "That be scrimp, sausage, and rice gumbo, chile. Best on the bayou, I tell ya." They laughed at his accent and continued to dig in as Devyn said his prayer over his food. When he began to eat, Yukari looked up, "Hey, Devyn-kun." He set his spoon down, "Yes, Takeba-Chan?" "What is that accent? I've never heard an American sound like that." He smiled at her honesty and at Mitsuru's scolding, "Takeba!" "No, it's alrigh', I understand. Not many people where I'm from get the chance to travel, so she probably never would have heard a Cajun accent if I hadn't shown up. I'm from the southern United States, a place called Louisiana. It was originally owned by the French before the U.S. bought it. We tried to keep a hold of our heritage while embracing the American way of life, and ended with the strange mix that most call creole. But the rich folks was creole, I'm of the swamp running, poor folk variety. We's called Cajun's." Everyone but Mitsuru nodded, they had never heard any of that before. "And that's why you speak that weird language that Mitsuru-sempai knows. You said it was French?" Both Mitsuru and Devyn said, "Oui." Then Devyn turned toward Akihiko, "So, Sanada-San. You go to Gekkoukan, too?" He nodded, "Third year, same as Mitsuru." He nodded, "So, you don't turn into a coffin at night either, huh?" Akihiko, Yukari, and Misturu choked on their gumbo at the same time and Junpei looked confused, "I don't know what you're talking about," Akihiko said quickly, looking away. Devyn knew he was lying, but he wasn't going to push, so he said, "My mistake." He looked over at Mitsuru, who was still choking on her gumbo, and lightly patted her on the back, "You all right, chere?"

She finally swallowed her food and took a deep breath. He continued to rub her back until her breathing came down to normal and she looked at him, "You good now?" She nodded and he went back to his food. The rest of the meal went by with just normal small talk until Junpei stood and announced that he needed to get back home. Devyn said goodbye and he left out the door. Devyn began collecting the dishes to wash when Mitsuru said, "Devyn-kun, please sit back down," He looked back to see all three still in their chairs. "Is something the matter?" She shook her head, "It's about that comment you made earlier." Devyn seemed relieved, "Oh, that? I was just wondering, is all. I mean, if I don't, Takeba-chan doesn't, and I assume you don't since you didn't seem surprised that Takeba-Chan had a gun last night, I figured that maybe Sanada-san didn't either." That's when Akihiko stood up and said, "You were right, I don't."

Devyn just nodded and continued toward the kitchen to wash the dishes, "That's what I figured. You might try not to look away when you lie." Akihiko dropped his gaze to the floor. "So, if all of you don't change at night, and Takeba-Chan's gun doesn't freak you out, then that means you've run into those monsters, yeah?" They nodded, "Thought so." He put the dishes in the sink and ran water, "So what did you guys want to talk about?" They were all coming into the kitchen to talk while Devyn washed dishes and Yukari even came over to help rinse, "Devyn-kun, have you heard of Apathy Syndrome?" He thought before he answered, "No, can't say I have. I assume it's relevant to the conversation?" Akihiko nodded, "Those monsters you saw are called Shadows, and they're the cause of Apathy Syndrome. They devour the minds of normal people while they're in that coffin form. We decided to fight them." Devyn listened, face stoic, navy blue eyes deep in thought. "You see, the Shadow's nest is here in Port Island," Devyn looked over at Mitsuru, "We are looking for people with the ability to experience the Dark Hour," Devyn looked confused, "that time when everyone else is a coffin," His eyes flashed in understanding, "So they could help us explore the Shadow's nest and find the source of the Shadow's."

Devyn was silent as he digested this new information. Finally, the dishes were done and he wiped his hands on a dish towel. "I've killed quite a few of these Shadows myself, mostly when they came into my Maw-maw's house." I've been caught outside and ambushed by a group of the things. I've had friends who experienced your Dark Hour, too." This caused all of them surprise. But not as much as what he said next, "But those friends had the same thoughts as you. They wanted to know why we saw everyone we cared about turned into coffins. Why all the water turned to blood. Why we got attacked by monsters that nobody else saw. They decided to find the source too, and they convinced me to help. Then one night, when we were out exploring, we came across a monster calling itself Reaper. I was the only one left alive." He lifted his shirt to show them his burned and scarred torso, and the stylized demon scar over his heart. "Though just barely."

They all gasped when they saw the cuts, holes, and burn scars all over him, but Mitsuru was looking at the one over his heart. "That one doesn't seem like it happened in battle." He gave a sad smile, "That's because I did that myself." That broke them away from his scars to look at his face. "W-What?" Yukari asked. Devyn pulled out a chair and sat down, "My mother died in childbirth. That caused no little amount of concern to my family, mostly in my father. He was a firm believer in the voodoo practices of the swamp. Then ten years ago I started experiencing your Dark Hour. I started seeing monsters my father was sure were the Loa spirits. He told my Maw-maw, who was a voodoo queen, and I began learning to be a bokor. I was taught to call the Loa, guide them to people to possess, serve them, then send them on their way."

He stopped and grabbed a Dr. Pepper from the fridge, "Once, I even offered to serve as a host body to a Ghede Loa. They are spirits that have lived before, and have a tendency to damage their hosts by eating glass and other such things." He sat back down and saw the looks of disbelief and interested horror on their faces. "I got a spirit that drank a jug of chicken blood. That's why it doesn't bother me to drink something during your Dark Hour. But as I got older I realized these monsters weren't the Loa, but the monsters you call shadows. I told my father, and he thought I was disrespectful to the spirits and beat me. Then he saw that every night at midnight, I would be slashed open. He said someone put the Gris-Gris on me, but when they couldn't remove it, they decided it was Li Grand Zombi punishing me for some evil. My father decided to kill me in service to Li Grand Zombi, and I killed him instead. I carved the demon on my chest and began walking." He took a sip of his soda, "And now here I am." They sat in silence for a good five minutes before anyone spoke. "How can a father throw away a son's life so easily?" Yukari asked him. "Oh, it wasn't easy for him, he cried the whole time. Well, up until I put the knife in his eye."

That really threw them off. Devyn sat in silence and waited, let each of them digest what he had said before they asked him what he knew they were going to. Mitsuru finally said, "Every one of us has had an experience with the Shadows. None of them are good. We started our team to destroy the Shadows before anyone else could live a story like that. But we just didn't have enough people to survive the nest. I know you have to hate the Shadows for what they did, so I ask you: will you help us to destroy them?" And there it was, the question he was asked years ago when his demon was just setting. After so long just surviving that hell, now he was asked to face it head on. But Mitsuru was right, he wasn't the only one with problems. And if the Shadows weren't destroyed, someone else would suffer for it. He looked at her and she met his eyes. Looking into them, he saw a life where he didn't have to either fight or cower every night. Where he could get close to someone like her and wonder if they would be killed by those monsters. Devyn smiled, "You just had to ask, mon amour. I'm in." She smiled and said, "Thank you. By the way, have you summoned your Persona?" He looked confused, "What's a Persona?" Yukari spoke up, "It's like a big monster that comes out of your head."

"That's never happened to me." Devyn said. Akihiko's turn to speak, "How have you managed to survive for so long without a Persona?" He looked over to the silver haired boy, "Knives and explosives, mostly. Though I could sometimes drop walls and stuff on them or drown them in the swamp." He whistled, "Man, you're tough." Devyn laughed, "You kinda have to be, where I'm from. The Shadows weren't the only things trying to kill me." Mitsuru looked up, "Oh?" He smiled, "Back when I was learning to be a bokor, I got it into my head that I was God's gift to women. There were a lot of angry brothers after me. But don't worry, I know better now," He reached over to a scar on his neck, "I know a lot better." Devyn suddenly stands up, "Well, did you guys need anything else?" They shook their heads, "Then I'm gonna hit the sack, it's almost midnight already."  
-

The next day at school, Devyn was reading the Book of Five Rings and listening to Miss Toriumi's lecture when she called on Junpei to answer a question, "Who did I say was my favorite author?" He began to sputter and stall, then whispered to Devyn, "Hey man, help me out?" Devyn let him sweat for a second, then whispered back, "Utsubo Kubota, next time pay attention." Junpei gave the answer then slipped right back into looking out the window.  
-

As Devyn came into the dorm with another sack of food, he noticed a man with long hair in a tan suit sitting in the chair talking to Yukari. She looked up, "Oh, he's back." The man looked over and Devyn tipped an imaginary hat in greeting. "So this is our new guest," They stood as Devyn came over and shook the man's hand, "Good evening. My name is Shuji Ikutski. I'm the chairman of the board for school." He chuckles, "Ikutski...hard to say isn't it? Even I get tongue tied trying to say it." Devyn took his hand back, "Not at all, it's a good name." He smiled, "Please, have a seat." Devyn set his sack on the table and sat in the other chair. "I apologize for the confusion regarding your accommodations. However, it may take a little while before you receive the proper assignment. Is there anything you'd like to ask?" He shook his head, "No, sir. I'm fine, and don't worry about my accommodations, I like it here. Will you be staying for dinner, Mr. Ikutski?"

"I'm afraid not, though Yukari-Chan told me you are a fantastic cook. I have business to attend to that can't wait. I hope you have a successful school year. Good night."  
-

After dinner, Devyn goes to his room for the night and quickly falls asleep, but instead of his usual dreams, he's being whisked along a checkered floor to a large blue door. When the door opened, a bright light temporarily blinded him then faded to reveal a large elevator car with a table and a couch. Sitting on the couch was a scary little man with bulging eyes and a nose that could snort a cat. Standing beside the man was a young woman with yellow eyes and an unnerving smile. She wore an outfit in the same eye straining blue as the elevator. The man said, "Welcome to the Velvet Room, my dear young man. My name is Igor. I am delighted to make your acquaintance," he gestured to the young lady, "This is Elizabeth. She is a resident here, like myself." She quietly said, "Pleased to meet you."  
Devyn bowed, "And I to meet you Elizabeth, Igor." Igor smiled wider, "This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. It's been years since we've had a guest." He waved his hand and Devyn's contract appeared on the table, "Only those who have signed the contract can enter this place. Henceforth, you shall be welcome here in the Velvet Room. You are destined to hone your unique ability and you will require my help to do so. I only ask one thing in return." Devyn nodded, "Of course," Igor continued,"You must abide by the contract and assume responsibility for the choices you make." Devyn said, "I don't sign anything if I don't intend to follow it. Don't worry about that." Igor nodded, "Keep this, 'til we meet again."

A blue key appeared in front of Devyn and when he grabbed it, the room faded to black.  
-

Later on the way to school, Junpei caught up to Devyn and stopped him at the gates, "What's up, buddy? Today is the perfect day!" Devyn decided to humor him, "How so?" "The sky is blue, we're young...what more could you ask for?" Devyn drooped, "My sunglasses back, for one thing." He'd lost them ever since that night with the Prison Child. "I got something that'll cheer you up!" Junpei said, "Wait, I'm not supposed to say anything."  
-

That night, Devyn had finally gotten around to unpacking his stuff and had just about finished when he found his knife harnesses in the 'other' box. He decided to take them out for a sharpening and was halfway through when the Dark Hour hit. He finally finished and strapped the harness on over a muscle shirt to practice his quick draws when a loud racket started up. He threw on a flannel shirt and left it hanging open to go check out the noise, but just as he opened the door Yukari comes running by with her gun strapped to her leg again. "No time to explain!" she said, "We gotta move!"

He nods and takes off after her downstairs and stop in the lobby, "Alright, we should be safe now." Devyn scoffed, "If were under attack this is the worst place to be." He reached into his shirt to grab two large knives as Yukari's phone goes off, "Takeba, do you read me?" Mitsuru's voice comes through even though Yukari hadn't answered the phone. "Y-yes! I hear you!" "Be careful! There's more than one enemy! The one we're fighting isn't the one Akihiko saw!" As she said that, the back door starts getting beaten on hard, nearly knocking it down.

"Devyn-kun, pull back!" Yukari yells as she runs for the stairs. "Dammit, child!' Devyn growls as he follows her. She tries to stop at the second floor, but Devyn grabs her arm and yanks her up the stairs, "Don't stop moving, If they're coming through the door they'll come up here! We need a choke point!" At that point they hear the door being busted open and something big moving up the stairs. Devyn manages to get Yukari up to the roof door and pushes her toward it while turning to face the stairs, "Open it!" She got it open and called to him and he ran through it backwards, slamming the door when he got out. Devyn used his knife to point at her gun, "You any good with that thing?" he asked. She hesitated, "It's not actually a ..."

She was interrupted by a large black mass of arms climbing over the lip of the roof. One of the hands was holding a wide eyed mask and the others reached into it's back and grabbed a bunch of large blades. Yukari reaches for her gun and points it at her head. Devyn reaches over but before he can slap it out of her hand, a pillar of blue energy shot from the ground at Yukari's feet and knocks her over. Her gun clatters over to Devyn. He looked at the weapon but had no time to grab as the pillar of energy blasted at him. Devyn sidestepped and rushed the monster, locking blades with it.

The two began slashing at each other with increasingly quick strikes, rebounding their weapons off of each other. This says a lot for Devyn's arm speed considering he's got two and his opponent has six. But eventually, Devyn began to slow and he just barely managed to block one strike that knocked his weapon out of his hand and the next swing forced him back. He quickly grabbed Yukari's gun and tried to fire at the Shadow, only to have it click uselessly, "Yukari! There are no bullets in this gun!" Suddenly, Prison Boy flashes in Devyn's mind and mimes putting a gun to his own head, "Can you do it?"

Just then, everything seemed to slow down as Devyn raised the gun to his head, in his mind, he saw the boy mouth a word. It seemed appropriate, so Devyn said it himself.

"Persona."

He pulled the trigger and the sound of breaking glass echoes through the air. Blue shards flew out of the other side of Devyn's head and crumbled to light particles and swirled over his head, reforming into a new shape.  
**I AM THOU**

**THOU ART I**

**FROM THE SEA OF THY SOUL I COME FORTH**

The particles formed into a large man in a hunting jacket and red pants. He holds a machete in his left hand and a jug in the other with a hammer on his back. His face is impossible to see because his head is on fire.  
**I AM OGOUN, THE WARRIOR LOA**

Devyn looked up at the figure floating in the air with awe, until his head started trying to split itself open. He grabbed his head and fell to his knees. Without looking, he knew that something horrible was happening to Ogoun up in the air. He heard a ripping sound and looked up to see a scary looking guy dressed in leather with a Dino skull on his head and a coffin cape tear his way out of Ogoun. Dino skull then flew straight toward the Shadow and slashed into the creature with a long sword that came from who knows where. After that initial cut though, Dino Skull dropped the blade and proceeded to crush the life from this creature.

After the rampage, Dino Skull stands there breathing heavily for a minute, then floats back into the air and becomes Ogoun again, and disappears. That would have been a great time to take a break in Devyn's opinion, but some of the muck from the Shadow broke off and grew masks. Devyn stuffed the gun into the waistband of his jeans, grabbed his knives off the ground, and with one quick move, cut both masks in half. The monsters finally dissolved, and Devyn sank back against the wall to pass out.  
-

Back in the Velvet Room, Devyn sank into a chair and sat there quietly for a moment before saying, "Good evening, Igor, Elizabeth." Igor nodded and said, "It's so nice to see you again, you've become unconscious after awakening to your...power. It's nothing to worry about though, so relax." Devyn took his advice and slouched into the comfy chair. "I see that it was Ogoun who heeded your calling. That power is called persona. It is a manifestation of your psyche." Devyn straightened, "So that wasn't really Ogoun who appeared?" Igor shook his head, "I'm afraid not, that was merely what you perceive Ogoun to be, although I admit, it isn't too far off. A persona can be thought of as a mask you wear as it protects you against coming hardships. It is a facet of your personality that reacts to your need of it."

That caused Devyn to think, "My need of it, so I didn't need that gun to summon my persona?" Igor nodded, "Precisely. In fact, this generation of persona users are the first to need any help summoning their persona. But getting back to my original point, your power is still weak. When you use your persona ability, you must channel your inner strength. The ability evolves as you develop your Social Links-your emotional ties with others. The stronger your social links, the stronger your ability. Please, remember that." Devyn thought about that, "So these social links only appear with people I become emotionally involved with, they're not going to just randomly pop up." Igor smiled wider, "Nothing is random, dear guest. Your social links not only strengthen your power, but enrich your soul and the soul of the other person. Now, time marches on in your world. I shouldn't keep you here any longer. Next time we meet, you will come here of your own accord."

Devyn stood, "Until then, be well." And the world darkened again.  
-

Devyn awoke to the antiseptic smell of a hospital. "Damn," he muttered. "Oh! You're awake!" He turned to see Yukari, "How d'ya feel?" He smiled, "Nothing a good meal and a night's sleep won't fix. You seen my clothes?" She pointed to a pile on the chair next to her and continued as he got up to dress, "How much sleep do you need. It's been a whole week! Uh, what are you doing?" Devyn had started untying the neck of the hospital gown. "Oh right," he said, "you'd probably be embarrassed to see me like this. Feel free to watch or turn around, whichever." And he continued changing. Yukari quickly turned and said, "U-uh, right! This is Tatsumi Memorial Hospital. It's just a short walk from the station. The doctor couldn't find anything wrong with you. He said you were just exhausted. But you kept sleeping and sleeping." Devyn slipped on his jeans and belt, then began trying to crawl into his shirt, "So how come you're here, Takeba-Chan?" She tossed a look over her shoulder and said, "You saved my life, you know. I couldn't just leave you here." She looked down, "I'm sorry I couldn't do anything, even though I was supposed to protect you, I ended up getting protected. But your power, that was amazing."

Devyn was finished dressing and turned her to face him, "You don't need to worry about that. No matter what happens, I will be here to protect you. Never apologize for being human enough to not want death. People aren't supposed to be able to kill without remorse." She smiled up at him and said, "Thanks." Suddenly, a warmth spread through Devyn's body and he heard a voice in his head. THOU SHALT HAVE OUR BLESSING WHEN THOU CHOOSEST TO CREATE PERSONAS OF THE LOVERS ARCANA. He was unsettled by this new development, but didn't let it show on his face. Then, Yukari seemed to remember something, "I actually stayed here to tell you something." "Yes?" She fidgeted, "Well I just felt so bad that you told us your past and know nothing about us, then that stuff with the Shadow happened, I just decided that as soon as you woke up, I'd tell you a little of my past." He sat her back in the chair and took a seat on the bed, leaning forward, "I'm all ears."

She sighed, "My dad died in an accident when I was little. And my mom and I aren't exactly on good terms. Back in '99 there was a big explosion in the area. Supposedly, my dad died in the blast, but nobody really know what happened. He was working in a lab run by the Kirijo Group. So, I'm hoping if I stick around long enough, I'll find out something." She chuckled, "And here I am telling you all this the minute you wake up. I've just been wanting to share that story with someone for a long time. Thanks." Devyn seemed thoughtful, "Kirijo, that's Mitsuru-Chan's name, isn't it? Have you asked her?" She nodded, "She says she doesn't know anything about it. Oh, that reminds me. Mitsuru sempai said you didn't have any medical records besides your birth certificate, is that right?" Devyn nodded.

"But what about all those scars and burns?" He jumped off the bed, "Doctors ask questions about wounds that severe, and I didn't have the time or inclination to answer them. So I holed up in an old house and stitched myself up with a sewing kit. The burns I scrubbed with a pumice stone to clear off the dead skin. Now it's my turn for a question, what happened to my knives?" Yukari sat there staring at him for a minute in shock before she said, "Akihiko sempai took it before we brought you to the hospital." Devyn nodded, "Good. Now let's get out of here." "Hey, wait!" He turned to look at her, "Shouldn't you wait until the doctor says you can leave?" He sighed, "Even when they're scars, they'll ask about the wounds, and I still don't want to tell them. Let's. Go." And he walked out of the room.  
-

When they returned to the dorm, everyone was surprised to see Devyn walk in, Mitsuru especially, "The doctors didn't tell me you'd be released today." He smirked, "Those quacks probably don't even realize I've left yet. Besides, I'm fine, I was a little sleepy and I slept it off. Trust me, ma chere, I'd never lie to you." Mitsuru didn't seem convinced, but Ikutski, who was still in the chair, laughed, "Oh, let the boy be, Mitsuru. He's obviously in good health if he can stand up to you." She backed down with her look of disapproval still in place and Devyn sat on the couch. "It's actually good timing that you're here, I've got a little surprise for you." He reached beside his chair and grabbed a silver briefcase, "Mitsuru had informed me of your decision to join our little group and I've had these prepared for you. Your own evoker." He opened the case to reveal a red armband and a gun much like Yukari's. "Welcome to S.E.E.S, the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad."

Devyn snorted, "It sounds like a bunch of kids using big words came up with the name." His laughter died, though, when he noticed Mitsuru and Akihiko glaring at him. Then Akihiko laughed, "That's actually exactly what it was. Mitsuru, another friend, and I came up with the name when we joined. We were trying to be grown up about it." Devyn smiled and grabbed the gun and holster, "I'll take the 'evoker', you called it? But I'm not wearing the armband." Ikutski grinned, "Take it anyway. We're listed as an after school club and so everyone's required to have one." He shrugged and grabbed the armband and stuffed it into his shirt pocket. Then the voice from earlier started again, THOU SHALT HAVE OUR BLESSING WHEN THOU CHOOSEST TO CREATE PERSONAS OF THE FOOL ARCANA. "Well, it's late. And everyone besides Mr. Sullivan has had a long day, so let's get some rest." Everyone stood and made their way back to their rooms, but Mitsuru hung back for a minute and said, "It's good to have you back, Devyn-kun."

Devyn smiled and said, "I'll always come back to you, mon amour." She was surprised by the remark, then blushed and smiled before turning to go to her room. THOU SHALT HAVE OUR BLESSING WHEN THOU CHOOSEST TO CREATE PERSONAS OF THE EMPRESS ARCANA.  
-

The next day at school Junpei was called again to answer a question when he wasn't paying attention. And again he turned to Devyn for the answer. He gave Junpei the correct answer, but confronted him after class. "Junpei, I need to talk to you man." Junpei turned to him and said, "What's up?" Devyn looked him in the eye, "In the short time I've been here you've had to ask someone else for the answer multiple times. I'm not going to do it anymore. If it's a problem with studying I'll be glad to help you, but I'm not just giving you answers again. I'm not going to help someone who doesn't care enough to help themselves. Alright?" Junpei looked surprised, "Alright, man. Sure. It's not that I don't care, I just have a hard time paying attention and retaining information. I really am trying." Devyn looked hard at him and decided he was telling the truth. He wasn't a slacker he was just an idiot.

"I can help you study. We can figure out how to help you keep the information. It may just be your brains wired a certain way so that you can't just read something and remember." Junpei smiled, "Thanks man, you have no idea how much I appreciate this." Devyn nodded, "Alright, we'll start tomorrow."  
-

That night when the Dark Hour hit, Prison Boy reappeared. "Hi, how are you?" This caused Devyn, who was sitting at his desk oiling his knife harness, to grab one of the knives off the desk and whirl around. When he saw who it was, he relaxed, "Whoo, you scared me, little man. How'd you get in here without me hearing you?" The boy smiled, "I'm always with you. Soon the end will come. I remembered, so I thought I should tell you." Devyn set the knife back down, "The end? Of what?"

"Of everything. But to be honest, I don't really know what it is." Devyn shrugged, "Well, nobody really knows what brings their end or what's after it. You just keep going until your end finds you." The boy looked up, "I hadn't really thought of it that way. Oh, it looks like you;ve awakened to your power... and an unusual power it is. A power that takes many forms, yet is bound by none... It may prove to be your salvation, depending on where you end up." Devyn leaned closer to the boy, "Honestly, I'm hoping to end up in Mitsuru's room. But don't tell her." He smiled, "But wait, I don't even know your name, do I?" The boy seemed confused, "Name? Oh, I see, I need a name. My name is... Pharos, you may call me that if you wish." Pharos suddenly fades out and back in by the door, "Do you remember when we first met? I expect you to honor your commitment. I'll be watching you, even if you forget about me... Okay then, see you later." And he vanishes.  
-

The next day after school, Devyn is sitting in the common room reading when Yukari comes down, "Oh good, you're here. Akihiko-San just called and said he had something to show us." Just then, Akihiko walks in with his jacket slung over his shoulder, "Good you're both already here. There's someone I want to introduce. Hey, hurry up." From outside the door Junpei's voice calls out, "Hold your horses, this is freakin' heavy." Devyn smirked and called, "Don't be such a wuss, Iori!" Yukari looked at him in shock, "No, what is He doing here? Don't tell me." Junpei chose this time to walk in with some suitcases, "Hey, if you're so strong, let's see you carry all this." Devyn walked over and grabbed Junpei's bags, handled them all until they were in one hand, and started lifting and dropping the luggage, "Anything else you wanna say?" Akihiko grins at the exchange and says, "This is Junpei Iori from class 2-F. He'll be staying here as of today." Yukari bursts, "He's staying HERE! You've gotta be kidding me!"

Devyn used his strict voice again, "Takeba-Chan!" She flinched and looked at him, "That's very rude, he's done nothing to you. And anyways he obviously has the potential, otherwise Sanada-San wouldn't have bothered to bring him here." Akihiko interrupted, "Hit the nail on the head again, Devyn. Junpei just awakened to the potential recently. I told him about us, and he agreed to help." Yukari eyed Junpei, "You have the potential! For real!" Junpei nodded, "He found me cryin' like a baby at the convenience store, surrounded by a bunch of coffins. I don't remember much, but man, that's embarrassing! He said that's, ya know, completely normal...in the beginning. Like, bein' confused and not remembering anything. Did ya guys know that?"

Devyn shook his head, "Actually, the first time I experienced the Dark Hour, I ended up killing a Shadow that I thought was just a big snake that had gotten into the house. Never been disoriented." Junpei looked indignant, "Big deal. It happens to everyone else. But man, I was shocked to find out about you guys. I had no idea. I'm glad I'm not the only one. It could get kinda lonely, ya know. I bet you're stoked too, right! Havin' me join." Yukari had been out of it since Devyn's statement, but she snapped back in, "Huh? Y-yeah.." Akihiko jumped back in, "Enough with the introductions. I think we've finally got enough people to start exploring that place." Yukari looked spooked, "You mean...Tartarus?" Junpei looked at one, then the other, "Tartarus? Sounds like toothpaste." Devyn sighed, "Tartarus was the Greek underworld where souls went after death. I assume this is the nest you told me about?" Akihiko nodded, "Yeah. The Chairman will give us the details tomorrow night, so be ready."  
-

At lunchtime, Devyn was trying to read while Yukari and Junpei were talking when Mitsuru came through the door. Devyn smelled an unexpectedly pleasant floral scent and looked up to see every male eye trained on Mitsuru. "Ah, Mitsuru-Chan. I knew I couldn't be the only man to have fallen under your charms." Mitsuru gave him a small smile, then turned serious and said, "Come to the lounge when you get back to the dorm. I have something to tell everyone. I'll save the details for later. See you there." Devyn beamed at her, "I can hardly wait." She gave a little laugh as she walked out the door. Junpei looked at Devyn in slack jawed wonder, "Damn, dude. Did you just get Mitsuru sempai to laugh?" Devyn glared at all the boys who were trying to set him on fire with their minds, then answered, "It's not that hard, you just have to be smart enough to say something funny." Yukari giggled at that, "See, I can get Takeba-Chan to do it, too."

Then Yukari turned to him, "Hey, how come you call me Takeba, but when you talk to HER, you say Mitsuru?" Devyn heard the hostility in her voice and noted it, "Just didn't want to get too familiar. Though, if you prefer I can call you Yukari-chan." Yukari waved her hands, "T-that's not,...I-I didn't mean,...do what you want." Devyn smiled at her and she blushed, "I'll remember that."  
-

Later they assembled in the lounge and Devyn made a point to sit next to Mitsuru. Ikutski started when they were all settled, "Okay, everybody's here. I'd like your undivided attention. For a long time, Mitsuru and Akihiko were the only Persona-users we had. But that number recently jumped to five. Therefore...starting tonight at 12:00AM, I'd like to commence the exploration of Tartarus." Junpei raised his hand, "Sorry... I asked this yesterday, but what's this Tartarus thing again?" Yukari looked at him, "You haven't seen it Junpei?" "Hm?" Ikutski said, "It's no surprise, since it only appears during the Dark Hour." Akihiko stood, "Just like the Shadows, interesting, huh? And it's the perfect place for us to train. You can think of it as a Shadow nest." At this Devyn interjected, "Tartarus may be many things, Sanada-san, but I definitely wouldn't call it interesting. Nor am I thrilled at the thought of facing the Shadows. And to top it off, I don't think you should go with us until your injury heals." Yukari nodded, "I agree." Mitsuru said, "Since Akihiko hasn't fully recovered yet, he'll only come as far as the entrance." Akihiko was getting annoyed, "Yeah, I know."

Ikutski motioned for him to sit back down, "Well, I'm sure he won't complain, as long as you don't go too far in. Since we're dealing with Shadows, Tartarus isn't something we can avoid." Now it was Junpei's turn to jump up, "Relax, I've got your backs." Devyn shook his head, "You say that, but have you ever been in a real fight in your life?" He looked over at Devyn, "What do you mean?" Devyn got up and towered over him even though they were the same height, "I mean have you ever looked down the barrel of a loaded gun and known the guy on the other end has no problem pulling the trigger? Have you ever been in a fight where your future was on the line? Have you even been in a situation where you wondered if broken bones or stab wounds would hurt less?" Junpei shrank back. "I know I agreed to help you guys in the nest, but I'm not surrounding myself with Shadows before I know what the people watching my back are capable of. We're not going tonight." That surprised all of them more than his speech had. "We're taking tomorrow off of school, and I'm going to see just how well you guys handle yourselves in dangerous situations. Get some rest, ladies and gents, tomorrow's gonna hurt." Mitsuru stood, "You can't just skip school, Devyn. There's an assembly tomorrow!" He turned to her and spoke gently, "Mitsuru, I don't want to skip school either, but even the weakest Shadow can kill them if they're not prepared. This is important, and if you let me have my way on this, I can promise that Iori will pass his midterm exams, deal?" She raised her eyebrow, "I believe you can turn Iori into a warrior, but a scholar. I think that might be a little beyond you." He gave her a smile, "Have a little faith, sempai." They stared at each other for a moment, then Mitsuru sighed, "Fine, I'll call the school and tell them an emergency has come up. But I want Iori in the top ten on the midterms." Devyn beamed, "Deal!"

Junpei looked pale, "What the hell did I get sucked into?"  
-

The day after their discussion, Akihiko took Devyn and Junpei to the police station while the girls got some food together for lunch out of town. When they walked in, an officer came up to the counter and looked at them, "Shouldn't you three be in school?" Akihiko stepped forward, "Officer Kurosawa, certain circumstances have made it necessary for us to train our new recruits quickly, so we took a day off." He gestured to Devyn and Junpei, "These two need to be outfitted so we can begin." He turned, "Guys, this is Officer Kurosawa. He keeps our squad well equipped. If need weapons he's the guy to talk to. Just remember he's the only one selling weapons here, okay? And everything here has a price." Devyn stepped forward, "Nice to meet you sir. We need to let this guy take a look at what you got so he can decide what he likes. As for me, do you have a couple of Kukri knives around here?" Officer Kurosawa nodded, opened the counter to let Junpei into the back, then went to grab Devyn's requested items. "That was oddly specific," Akihiko observed. "I had a pair before I moved here and they were my primary weapons in the set. But I left them with a friend." Akihiko was about to ask who when Officer Kurosawa came back with the knives. Devyn grabbed them and tapped them together, then gave them a couple test swings. He flipped the right one so the handle was pointing back to the police officer, "There's a weakness in the blade just over the handle, you got one to replace it?"

The man seemed offended that someone would find a flaw with his wares, but took it to the back and brought out another one. This one passed Devy's inspection and he nodded, "How much?" The man looked at them and thought before saying, "8,000 yen." Devyn tucked the knives into the back of his jeans and covered them with his trench coat before taking out his wallet. After paying, they waited for a few minutes and Devyn even pulled out his music player before Junpei came back with a katana. "Alright, I pick this one." Devyn peered closely at the sword in Junpei's hand, "Junpei, let me see that sword." The boy looked confused as he passed it over and Devyn inspected the weapon. After a minute, he relaxed and said, "Alright, here you go." Junpei walked over to buy the sword as Akihiko asked, "What were you looking at?" Devyn looked over and smiled, "I thought for a second that Junpei had found a Muramasa, but it was just an imitation." Akihiko thought for a second, "Why would it matter if it was real or not?"

Devyn was surprised, "We've got mythic creatures in our heads and you're asking me why it's important that Junpei doesn't buy a sword that legends describe as pure evil?" Akihiko backed off, "Point taken, but how did you know it was a fake?" Devyn leaned against the wall, "I spent a lot of time as a swordsman before I switched to knives. I still remember a few things." Junpei returned to them and handed the sword off to Devyn to hide in his coat until they got back to the dorm. Once there Devyn passed off the sword and went upstairs to change into his battle gear. He hung up his coat, changed into baggy jeans, steel toed boots, and an Under Armor shirt. Strapped on his knife harness, slid his new kukris into the sheaths on the back, and put two more into his boots. He tied a bandana over his head and threw his coat back on. He checked to make sure he wasn't forgetting anything, then stepped back downstairs.

Everyone else were in their school uniforms for some reason. "You guys are going in those?" They looked at each other, "What's wrong with our uniforms?" Yukari asked. Devyn sighed, "Every other Gekkoukan student is in school right now, don't you think you'll stand out wearing that in the middle of the day?" They finally understood and went back up to change. "I'll meet you guys at the train station, I gotta go pick something up." Then he took off into town. Later, when they met at the train station in their civvies, and with Junpei holding a big box, Devyn came walking up in his new sunglasses. "Everyone ready?" They nodded, "Then let's go."

They left town and got off at the next stop. They walked the roads until they couldn't see a town in either direction then Devyn led them off the road to a field way out of sight of anything. "Perfect," Devyn said, and turned to see everyone but Akihiko breathing heavily from the walk, "You've got to be kidding me. You city people." He pointed to a tree a few feet away and said, "take a break, then we'll start." They stumbled over to the tree and sat in the shade while Devyn watched the clouds and Akihiko did some one armed shadowboxing. "Hey, Devyn," Junpei called, "This is starting to look like you had this planned the whole time, what made you come up with it?" The pale knife fighter looked to the group, "Well actually Junpei, this wasn't really my idea." He walked over to the rest of them and sat down next to the trunk, "I told the others before, that about six years ago I knew a bunch of people back in America who had the potential." His eyebrows raised as Yukari and Mitsuru looked at the ground. "When I first met them, they had already been fighting Shadows for a few years together. Back then, I was a little guy carrying a sword a lot like the one you got in that box. At the time I was using the Dark Hour to break into places to steal food. When they caught me, I tried to fight them off. I almost did it too, till their leader showed up."

He grinned, "I thought I was hot stuff because of that sword. It was a true Murasame. A sword with a legend for bloodthirstiness. She came at me with a switchblade knife and knocked me on my ass. Well, when my fighting didn't work, I decided to try charming her into letting me go. I don't think I could have picked a worse woman to try that on. Not only was her husband holding my arm at a dangerous angle, she got so upset with me that she slashed me." Devyn traced the scar that ran from his neck to just in front of his ear. "Told me a man's true worth isn't what he says to a woman, but what he means when he talks. They threw me in a trash pile and took my sword." He was silent for a second, "I never did see that blade again. Anyway, a few days later, I tracked down the group who whipped my ass and demanded their leader teach me to fight like her. She wasn't so inclined. For eight days I followed them around until she finally asked me why I was so determined to learn from her." He looked over to Mitsuru, "I looked her straight in the eye and said, 'You've already taught me truth'."

Junpei busted out laughing, and Yukari punched him in the gut. "Stupei!" But Devyn smiled, "No, she laughed at me, too. It was the cheesiest thing I could have possibly said. But after that she took me in and taught me how to use these," he patted his harness, "This was actually hers. Took me days to get her blood off of it." Why did everyone look at him with pity when he told them stories? Was his past so pathetic? He was still there. Fed, not dead, right? "But she would always take me to a place like this to fight when we used real blades, and that's why we're here." Devyn stood, "Now let's get to work." Junpei opened the box and grabbed a rapier and bow. He passed them off to Mitsuru and Yukari. Then drew his own weapon. Devyn grabbed his kukri and twirled them, "This is a live weapons exercise, you must draw blood to finish the match, and I will be trying to cut you, so don't get complacent."

Junpei laughed, "Man what are you talking about, I'd cut you in half." Devyn charged Iori and placed a light scratch on his neck, making him yelp, "If you talk on the battlefield you will die. Even a rookie can cut down a trained fighter." He kicked Junpei's feet out from under him and ran for Yukari, who was still drawing when he smacked her in the hand with the back of his blade, "Speed wins most fights, your opponent can't kill you if he can't hit you, always be moving." He left her to collect herself and sidestepped Junpei's swipe, throwing him off balance, "Stay grounded, if you don't have a good stance, don't swing. Sure footing is more important than a killing blow." He saw Mitsuru closing on him and she thrusts at his gut, he slaps it away with the flat of one blade and stabs at her eye, stopping it an inch from her face. "Combat is not a match, war is not a game, never assume your opponent is playing by the rules." Devyn trips Junpei as he launches at his back, causing him to go flying into Mitsuru.

"Your sword is not a baseball bat, Iori. It has an edge, it cuts. Stop trying to bash me with it." Devyn ducks an arrow fired at his head, and has to roll as Yukari fires another in quick succession. She reaches into her quiver for another pair of arrows and runs toward her, but she sees and retreats, so Devyn moves back as she lines up a shot and fires. Devyn moves to the side and grabs the arrow as it nearly pierces Junpei's heart. The boy freezes as his attempt at a sneak attack is foiled, "Always be mindful of your allies more than your enemy. A team out of sync is worse than one man against an army." He threw down the arrow and punched Junpei in the jaw, knocking him over, "I said don't stop moving." Mitsuru chose this moment to strike, scoring a long cut across his back. His coat stopped the attack, but if he hadn't been wearing it she would've cut down to his spine. He turned and nicked her knuckle, "Good strike, but don't drop your guard just because you got a hit in. Get in, cut, get out."

This continued for three hours, with him spouting mini-lectures every time he hit them, and congratulating them when they managed to avoid him. They finally stopped for lunch and he asked them to repeat the lectures he gave them. Everyone was pleasantly surprised when Junpei could recite every one of his. After they had rested, they continued for three more hours, then packed up to go back to Port Island. "Very good, I think everyone made some improvements today." Junpei was sulking behind his bruised head, "Easy for you to say, you didn't get hit but that one time." Devyn looked at the three of them. Junpei was by far the worst of the bunch, but none of them left without marks. For the girls he had tried to limit it to little nicks and cuts on the clothes. But Yukari had a small cut on her ear and Mitsuru had the back of her hand sliced. "You weren't supposed to hit me at all, today." He told them, "Today was to show you how far you had to go before you could take on monsters like the Shadows. They won't pull punches like I did, and a few of them are faster. Most of them are stronger."

"Yeah, but that's where Persona comes in." Yukari was holding a handkerchief to her ear. He looked at her, "Persona can only get you so far. You need skills of your own if your going to survive in the nest." Devyn reached into his pocket and grabbed a bandage for Mitsuru's hand. He knelt down in front of her and began wrapping her hand up, "I did this because I care about you guys too much to see you hurt in a place where I may not be able to help you." He looked up into Mitsuru's eyes, "Where I may not be able to help myself." He finally managed to get her to look at him without pity in her eyes. Now she was starting to see him instead of his past or his power. Maybe in time she would see the same thing in him that he saw when he looked at her. It was unlikely to be soon, but he was willing to wait. He finished bandaging her hand and tossed some medicinal cream to Junpei for his bruises. When he sat back down he saw that she was looking at the bandage he had tied.


	2. Chapter 2

Back at the dorm, the others began to head to their rooms when Devyn called out, "Once you guys get rested, we'll begin exploring Tartarus. You've got the basics down, now all you need is real combat experience." They just nodded sleepily and continued up. Devyn went up to his room, oiled his harness, sharpened his new kukri, then went to bed. - The next day at school, Devyn was walking by the front gates when someone stopped him, "Hey, you're Devyn Sullivan, right?" He looked over to see some completely unassuming guy walking over to him. "Man, I tried to catch you here yesterday, but I didn't see you. Hey, are you really close with Yukari-san?" Devyn stared blankly at him,"How is that any of your business? Who are you?" The guy looked surprised, "Oh! Right, sorry, I'm Kenji Tomochika. Didn't mean to pry, I'm not really interested in girls my age anyway." Devyn looked at the idiot until he got uncomfortable and left, "Mon Dieu, that guy made me itchy. What is it with Japanese and butting into people's personal life?" Later after class, Devyn was gathering his things when Kenji walked up, "Hey, man, I'm gonna get some ramen after school. You wanna come?" Devyn sighed, he could see that this guy was going to become a major pain in his ass if he didn't do something now, so he looked up, "Why would I wanna go anywhere with you?" Kenji stepped back, shocked,"Just trying to be friendly, dude. You don't have to bite my head off." Devyn straightened up,"Oh, but I do. I need you to understand that I don't need friends like you, Tomochika. So no, I don't wanna go get some ramen, I want to go home and relax, maybe read a book, anything but hang out with you." Kenji got mad,"Fine! I was just trying to be friendly, you jerk!" He walked off. - Devyn walked into the dorm to see Mitsuru sitting in the chair reading, he signs in and sits down on the sofa, "Good evening, Mitsuru-chan. How was your day?" Mitsuru looked up at him as he grabbed his book out of his bag, "Fine, why do you ask?" Devyn shrugged,"Do I need a reason to ask?" Mitsuru seemed confused, but pleased as she said, "I guess not." They sat in silence for a while, until Junpei came through the door. Devyn stood up, "Iori!" Junpei jerked and looked over at him, "Where have you been? Have you forgotten about your studies?" Junpei flushed, "N-no! Of course I didn't, I just..." Devyn waved a hand, "No excuses, Iori. Go put your things in your room and come back down here with your books." He waited for a second, then shouted, "Move!" Junpei jumped and began hustling up the stairs. Devyn sat down and closed his eyes for a moment, then looked up to see Mitsuru looking at him, "Something on my face, Mitsuru-chan?" She jumped, then blushed, "Ah, no, I..." She stood up, "I'll leave the two of you to study, excuse me." But before she could go, he called over his shoulder, "Please, don't leave on our account. We're probably about to go up to the roof." The redhead hesitated, then sat back and reopened her book, "Very well." Junpei chose this time to come tromping back down with his school book, "Well here we go." Devyn grabbed the book from his outstretched hand, "English, huh? And just what is it that you can't grasp?" The youth plops onto the couch, "It's the sounds of the words. I just can't keep everything straight!" "Hm,..." Devyn flipped through the book quickly, then snapped it shut, "Okay, Iori. Here's how we're gonna do this. You sit here and make flash cards with the English word and it's Japanese equivalent on each card. Then, we'll go around the dorm and you match the card to the object until you get them all. If you make a mistake, I take this stick," at this point, Devyn grabs a meter stick and waves it under Junpei's nose, "and I whack you with it." Junpei gulped audibly and Mitsuru cracked a smile, "Don't you think that's a bit drastic, dude?" Devyn looked him in the eye, "You said yourself that you can't read and retain, but see how well you did with our combat exercise? Even lab mice can be taught to avoid actions that cause pain. You telling me you're dumber than a mouse, Iori?" The boy puffed up at the remark, then quickly got to work making flash cards. "What happened to your trip to the roof, Devyn-kun?" The boy looked over to Mitsuru and smiled, "That's for math and philosophy. Languages and sciences can be handled in a more civil manner." Then he returned his gaze to Junpei, "But that doesn't mean I'll tolerate slacking off. I told you already, I won't waste my time on someone who won't help themselves. You have the potential to make top scores, as well as becoming a top swordsman, if you'll apply yourself." The boy just nodded, never looking up from his work. THOU SHALT HAVE OUR BLESSING WHEN THOU CHOOSEST TO CREATE PERSONAS OF THE MAGICIAN ARCANA. - The next morning, Devyn was down in the kitchen when Mitsuru and Yukari made their way down the stairs, "Ah, Yukari-chan. I didn't expect to see you up this early. Sit down, I'll fix you both a plate. I hope you got a sweet tooth." As the girls sat around the table, he sprinkled a little powdered sugar over the batch and placed two plates in front of them. Yukari eyed it doubtfully, "What is this?" Devyn placed his hands on his hips, "Really, what is it with you japanese girls and asking questions? Just try it, scaredy-cat." Mitsuru just smiled and started in on her food, loosing a sound of surprise on the first bite. Yukari stared at it for a moment longer, then grabbed one of the brown sticks and nibbled on the end, "Wow! This is really good, Devyn-kun." He chuckled and set about cleaning the kitchen area, "I'm glad you think so. Pain perdu, is what it's called. Just a little french bread fried with nutmeg and vanilla, then sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon." They chatted for a while and when the girls finished their breakfasts, Devyn set the plates in the sink and wiped his hands, "Well, shall we head on to school?" After class, Devyn was sitting at his desk listening to his music player while everyone filed out. "When I trample on my destiny, I'm cutting out the best of me. With an unskilled hand and heavy heart..." Just as the music started to make him doze off, a hand on his shoulder jarred him back into reality. Before he knew what was going on, Devyn had grabbed a pen off the desk and the offending arm. He finally realized it was Junpei after he had the boy slammed into the desktop and the pen a centimeter from his jugular. "Whew, you startled me Iori. Next time, just call out or something." Devyn let the boy up, and he rubbed his arm before saying, "We would, but you were wearing those headphones." The blue-eyed kid pulled one headphone out and held it out, "I've got it set on low. I can hear everything that's going on even when I'm listening to music. Now what did you need?" Junpei seemed confused before finally getting his head straight, "Oh, right. Did you hear that athletics clubs were accepting members again? You and me should try for kendo club. What do you say?" Devyn stuffed the pen into his pocket, "No, I don't think that's a good idea. Kendo's not exactly useful against more than one opponent, and even then it's for someone with normal human skills. If you want to join a club, take track or something. I'll teach you fighting, if you want." Junpei seemed skeptical, "Is it gonna hurt like your English lesson?" Devyn smiled, "A lot worse. Oh, find Yukari for me and tell her I need her back at the dorm at a reasonable hour. I'm taking you kids to Tartarus." - Later on that night, the group was all gathered outside the school building in their civilian clothes. "Seriously, why would you even think school uniforms in the middle of the night would be inconspicuous? Besides, what are you gonna do about that muck these things bleed? It doesn't wash out, you know." Junpei took this moment to speak up, "Dude, you cook and clean? What's wrong with you?" The girls glared at him and Devyn said, "I killed my dad way back when. You don't get another parent after that, so I learned to take care of myself. Besides, the way you act you'll never find a woman willing to pick up after you, Iori." The capped youth hung his head in defeat and Akihiko snapped his phone shut, "Here we go." After the grinding and twisting of the school into the tower, and the resulting awe, the kids stepped inside. "Woah," Junpei breathed, "it's just as cool on the inside." Yukari nodded, "But it sure is creepy." Devyn laughed, "What did you expect from a monster's lair? Maybe marble statues and harp music? Wait, I've got harp music, hold on." Devyn shuffled around until he found his Dark Hour music and whacked it until the little machine started. After a few stabs of the button, he had Carolan's dream playing all throughout the room. Akihiko stepped in front of them, "First we'll have you three get a feel for the place. Why don't you go have a look around?" Yukari started, "What, by ourselves?" Devyn sighed, "No, not by yourselves. Neither of you are experienced enough, and you're an archer, Yukari. You don't have the right training to fight on your own, so I'm going to act as cover for you while you get used to shooting during combat. I'll also be watching Junpei while he takes point and practices with his sword." Mitsuru nodded, "An effective strategy, Devyn-kun. But for today, we'd like if you just explored the first floor, to get yourself accustomed to Tartarus. We'll also be appointing a leader to make any necessary decisions." Junpei's eyes widened, "For real? One of us? Oh! Oh! Me me me, pick me!" Devyn rolled his eyes and waited for the inevitable, "Sullivan, you're in charge." Devyn stepped forward and Junpei yelped, "Wait! Why him?" Before Akihiko or Yukari could get started on the reasons, Devyn reached into a pocket and pulled out a .44 revolver and a single bullet. "If you don't like it, Iori, I welcome your challenge for leadership." He calmly loaded the bullet, spun the cylinder, and snapped it shut pointing straight at his own head. "Got the gun from Kurosawa. Figured eventually something like this might come up. Now," Devyn pulled the trigger and everyone flinched. "I can pull this trigger four more times before I start to get even slightly worried. Whether it's an evoker or a real gun, it makes no difference in my head. But can you pull the trigger on that fake gun without hesitation?" CLICK, CLICK! "Can you go up those stairs to whatever horror might be waiting and know that one mistake might not kill just you, but Yukari and myself as well?" CLICK! "A leader has to put the needs of the group before himself, Iori. You just want to be the hero." CLICK! Now everyone looked nervous, and Devyn leveled the gun at Junpei's head. "Can you take that responsibility? Tell me to pull this trigger, and you get to be leader, Iori." Junpei looked terrified, and Yukari stood a little behind Akihiko, who just stood by with a concerned look on his face. "Sullivan, that's enough!" Mitsuru yelled. Devyn shook his head and smiled, "A leader doesn't get to be a child anymore, Junpei." Then he put the barrel into his mouth and...CLICK! The girls squealed and Akihiko had jumped forward, but everyone was surprised when Devyn still stood there untouched. He reached into his sleeve and pulled out the bullet, showing it to everybody. "Now, is there any other objections before we begin?" Everyone was still in a state of shock, silently staring. "I didn't think so, now let's go." And he started up the stairs. He waited on the first floor while the four of them spoke in hushed tones, and punched some more buttons on his music player until Devil's Gift started playing. "Don't feel so baaaaad, 'cause I'm gonna make it alright." He listened in silence for a little longer, then Junpei and Yukari joined him. "Sorry about all that, Iori. But this is no game. You got one life, and no do-overs. Now let's go, you're in front. Yukari-chan, stay three steps behind me and one to my left. Keep an arrow nocked but don't draw until you see a Shadow. Let's move." They walked around the tower for a while and stumbled across a few treasure chests just lying around before their first Shadow. "Hey, it's those blobs from the roof! Hey, Iori, these things hate fire. You take one, Yukari-chan and I'll grab the other, cool?" Junpei, who had gotten over his little scare earlier, nodded and grabbed his evoker. Devyn shook his head, "Gonna waste magic this early in, huh? Yukari, I'm going in. If you get a clear shot, take it. I'm gonna play with it a while, so you'll get a feel for battle." And with that, he charged in, drawing his kukri with a twirl. He leaped over the beast as it lashed out at him and he slashed it along it's back. The thing let out a warbling noise, and quickly spun around to try another strike. "They certainly don't seem too bright." Devyn looked over and saw Junpei try another baseball swing at the Shadow, which it easily dodged. This threw the boy off balance and he fell, with the Shadow closing quickly. Devyn reached into his boot and threw the knife inside, piercing the mask in one shot. As the creature dissolved, he yelled over to Junpei, "What did I tell you about footing? Now get my knife and come over here!" The youth stood, adjusted his cap, and snatched the knife off the floor before running over and nailing the Shadow straight in the mask. While Junpei stood catching his breath, Devyn glanced around and saw a number of arrows just laying around. "If you're gonna waste shots, we'll switch you to a gun, Yukari-chan. In small fights like these, you have time to line up your shots patiently. What would you have done if that Shadow had gotten around Junpei and I? You have no arrows left in your quiver." The girl looked down and saw that Devyn was right, and flushed red, "I'm sorry." Devyn began collecting the ammunition, "Don't be sorry, Yukari-chan. I'm saying this stuff so that when the time comes, you'll know what to do. I know I sound like a jerk right now, but you saw how big this tower is. Can you honestly say we won't come up against a Shadow stronger than us in that huge area?" He handed her the arrows and she stuffed them back into the quiver, holding one back to the string. "Now, let's finish this floor. In the next fight, I want you to try your magic. Junpei! No persona in the next fight. I wanna see if you remember our training session." - Later, on the way back home, Devyn was inspecting the short sword he'd found in one of the treasure boxes. "It don't look like much, but it's not a bad weapon. I think I'll hold onto this." He quickly performed the fencing salute, added an overhead flourish, and slid it into the back of his harness. "It seems you have a natural affinity for any bladed weapon, Devyn-kun." Mitsuru stated. "Actually, like I told you guys, I used to be a swordsman. It wasn't until later that I started using the knives. To tell the truth it's hard to get anything bigger than a pocketknife into Japan, so I had to leave a lot of my weapons behind. My real skill is with hand-and-a-half swords." Akihiko grinned, "So that show we saw today wasn't even your best game?" Devyn chuckled, "Don't get too excited, boxer boy, you'll get a shot at the title soon enough." The three of them continued like that for a while until they noticed Junpei and Yukari dragging along behind them. "Man, I knew they said they were tired, but I didn't think it'd be this bad. Guess I forgot how draining this time can be." Mitsuru nodded, "It's true that we've had more experience operating during the Dark Hour than they." Devyn looked at them, then said to the others, "Why don't you two go on ahead, and I'll watch these two." They nodded and continued toward the dorms, while Devyn jogged back to the two of them, an open Dr. Pepper in his hand. "Hey you two, maybe we ought'a stop somewhere and eat. The Dark Hour's almost up, and I'll treat." They looked like they wanted to refuse, but Devyn wasn't having any of that, "Come on, a little food'll make you feel better. Trust me." Junpei snorted, "Yeah, trust the guy drinking blood in a can." Devyn smiled wide, "What does my being a hemophile have to do with anything?" Finally he managed to drag them to Hagakure and ordered three specials, one extra spicy. While they waited for their food, he looked at the two of them, "Dang, you two are wiped, huh?" They nodded silently and he continued, "It's because the Dark Hour isn't really for people. One of my old crew had this theory. He said Shadows were all the negativity that people try to hide from society. All those emotions like jealousy and hate. They get slapped together and make the Shadows. The Dark Hour is the home for that negativity, so anyone who harbors feelings like that has this extra weight on them while in the Dark Hour. That's why most people feel tired when they first experience it, but stop feeling it later. They become more honest with themselves when they face the Shadows and persona." Finally their noodles were ready and Devyn stood to grab the bowls and carry them back to the table. Once Junpei could actually smell the food he tore into it like he hadn't eaten in days. Yukari ate a few bites, but mostly just stirred it around. "Something the matter, Yukari-chan?" She looked up at Devyn and shook her head, "Just not really hungry for noodles. Man, I wish the sweet shop was still open." They sat watching Junpei eat for a moment, then Devyn stood, "Hold on." And he walked out of the shop. After a few minutes, he walked back in with an armload of cakes and cookies. He paused for a second, but the shopkeeper had gone into the back for some reason. He got back to the table and set the sweets down, "Take your pick." The brunette stared at the large pile, "How did you get all this? The store's closed." Devyn sat and continued in on his noodles, "Your point being?" She gave him a disapproving look, "You didn't steal this, did you?" He shook his head, "I left money. So really my only crime is breaking and entering. But I didn't leave any damage to the lock, so nobody should care." Yukari stomped on his foot hard, "I can't believe you! I refuse to eat any of this." Devyn sighed, "Look, Takeba. It's already stolen, and you refusing to eat is only gonna hurt yourself. You didn't want the noodles, so I got you cake. The owner was compensated for all of this, so there's no problem at all. So just quit acting like such a damn princess and eat!" This even caused Junpei to look up from his food when Devyn raised his voice. Yukari timidly grabbed a small chocolate cake from the pile and nibbled on the end. Devyn finished his noodles, grabbed a cookie, and stood. "I'm going ahead. Junpei, make sure her highness makes it home safe." He paid and left. 


	3. Drunken Escapades

A few days later, Devyn passed by the school gate while a pair of girls gossiped before class. Mention of a used bookstore caught his attention and he listened closer, "Yeah, leave Iwatodai station, go straight for a while, and it's after you cross the crosswalk." Devyn memorized the directions, then moved on as the first bell rang.

After class, Devyn made his way down to Iwatodai station and into the store 'Bookworms'. Behind the counter was an old man, who called, "Welcome. What would you like today? We have fresh mackerel...!" The boy was a little confused before a little old lady came shuffling out of the back, "Sorry, as you can see, we don't sell fish here." Just as Devyn opens his mouth to thank her, the old man intervenes again, "Hey, you're a student, aren't you? You must be from Gekkoukan High, right? That means you've probably seen the Persimmon tree there." Devyn blinked at this sudden change of topic, then said, "Yes, I know it. A good place to sit and enjoy the day. Why do you ask?" Before he could say anymore, the lady pipes in, "I'm sorry. He's rambling on like an old man. Just ignore him." Devyn was thoroughly confused by this couple, but respected the lady's wish and let the subject drop. He browsed for a while, marking books he might return for, then left for the dorm.

When he stepped inside, Akihiko called out from the sofa, "Where have you been? ...Ya know, you better be training while I'm out. If anything happens, it'll be you guys who have to deal with it." Devyn glanced over at the fighter, "I'm perfectly aware of this Sanada-san, but those kids have lives beyond Tartarus. We have time enough to ease them into this, so why not? They're children, not soldiers." Akihiko stood and stretched, "They may not be soldiers, but they're fighting a war. I do see your point though, there's no rush. I'll trust your judgment, leader." Devyn chuckled, "I know sarcasm when I hear it, Sanada. Just for that, the dorm can fend for itself for a few days. I'm on strike." The American laughed at the look of shock on his senior's face as he headed upstairs.

Back in his room, Devyn checked his harness, took some practice swings with his new short sword, and dropped into the chair at his desk. He sat for a while, enjoying the silence, then reached into the top drawer and grabbed a thin silver chain. He played with the end, singing softly. He sat this way well into the night, and hardly noticed when the Dark Hour began. The soft light emanating from the length of silver caused a small smile on his face, "You still haven't given up on me, huh?" He paused, then fastened the chain around his neck. The cool metal settled along his collarbone in a familiar weight, and Devyn went to sleep. The next day was Sunday, so Devyn dug into his armoire and withdrew a simple black suit. He dressed, wrestled with the tie for a while, then threw up his hands in defeat and went down to the lobby to find someone who could help him. The others were all sitting around doing not much of anything. "Does anyone here know how to knot a tie?" They all looked up and seemed surprised at his attire. "Where are you going all dressed up like that?" Yukari called from the armchair. "It's Sunday, I'm gonna go find a church. Once again, can anybody help me?" Mitsuru finally took pity on him and stood, "Come over here, Sullivan. I'll do it for you."

He stepped close, and as she began work on his tie, whispered, "Merci, Mitsuru-chan, but I do believe I asked you to call me Devyn." He was rewarded with a blush from the girl and she quickly stepped back after completing her task. Devyn straightened the tie, buttoned up his jacket, and said, "I don't suppose any of you know where a church is, do you?" None of them said anything, so he shrugged and left to begin his search. It took quite a while, but eventually Devyn stumbled across a small building with the telltale architecture of a religious establishment. He ventured inside and found that Mass had ended, but he resolved to at least meet the pastor today, and entered. He found a rather young man with glasses in a brown suit, "Hello, sir." The fellow jumped, then saw Devyn and smiled, "Hello to you to. Did you enjoy the service?" Devyn shook his head, "I missed it unfortunately. I'm new to the area and didn't know my way. I thought I'd introduce myself. I'm Devyn Sullivan." The young man shook his offered hand, "Father Endo. It's good to meet you, I hope you'll be attending our next sermon, Mr. Sullivan." The boy laughed, "Please Father, just Devyn. Unfortunately, my schedule only allows me to attend on Sunday mornings, excluding special occasions, but I'll certainly be back next week. But if I may say, it's unusual to see a pastor so young." This brought a conspiratorial smile to the man's lips, "God calls to us in his time, not ours." Devyn could only smile, "Amen. Well, time marches on, and I'm afraid I must depart. Expect me back next week Father." They shook hands again, and he left.

- Later that evening, Mitsuru came through the door just as Devyn was setting a large platter of fried chicken on the dining room table. Junpei must have smelled the food and come running, because he came barreling down the stairs, "And Akihiko-san said you weren't cooking for a while, Devyn." The boy laughed and went back in the kitchen for plates, "I only said that to scare him. There's no way I'd miss Sunday fried chicken. That'd just be wrong." Junpei reached to snatch a drumstick from the platter and Devyn brought a butcher knife down hard on the cutting board beside him, "You touch that chicken before everyone else gets here and I'll put you in the oven, Iori. Now go wash up and call the others." Junpei gulped loudly and tore back up the stairs. Mitsuru, who had watched the proceedings quietly, turned and said, "You know Devyn-kun, you are somewhat harsh on Iori and Takeba. Maybe you should calm down a little." Devyn nodded, "Maybe I should. To tell the truth, I've never done this mentor stuff. I'm mostly copying my old teacher, though I have toned it down from her, too. Now she was hard, show you something once then throw you into fight after fight until you could do it perfectly. And she was really hung up on manners. I guess she rubbed off on me." He finished setting the table and pulled a chair free for Mitsuru, who lowered herself in with a nod of thanks. The rest showed up and sat down a few seconds later.

- The following Monday was mostly uneventful, until Mitsuru strode into the classroom. She quickly made her way to Devyn's desk, and he felt the usual stares of jealous rage emanating. Bored with his usual posturing, Devyn stood and bowed deeply to the redhead, making his voice carry without yelling, "Why, Mitsuru-chan, how lovely of you to meet me for lunch, shall we go?" Before the sputtering girl could object, he had grabbed her arm and lead her out of the room. As soon as the door to the classroom was closed, he released her arm, "I'm terribly sorry about this, but I'm tired of all the hostility every time you walk into the room. I'm hoping this will make those boys give up and go on with their lives. Now, did you need something?" The Kirijo heiress seemed distracted for a moment, but quickly collected herself when she noticed he'd finished speaking, "Yes, I meant to ask a favor of you. Would you mind joining the student council?" "Hm..." Devyn gestured for her to walk with him as he made his way to the stairs, "Any particular reason you want me to join?" She rubbed her arm hesitantly, "Being president is very time consuming. I'd like to have additional help available in case of emergency. And with your leadership abilities, I thought you'd be a good candidate." Devyn sighed, "I see, so it's purely business, is it?" Mitsuru nodded, "Of course. So will you do it?" They made their way upstairs in silence, then the American spoke, "I see no reason why I shouldn't, but I also don't see why I should."

The girl seemed surprised at his remark, "I thought I explained it rather..." Devyn interrupted, "Oh, I see your point of view in this, but I don't really care what happens in this school. It's obviously better taken care of than American schools, and what you consider major violations in school rules are commonplace back in the States. Why should I care if some spoiled rich kid gets caught with a flask of weak sake, or two students going at it under the bleachers?" Mitsuru was looking over at Devyn in silence, "Now, that's not to say I won't do it. I just need a little incentive, is all I'm saying." Suddenly, Mitsuru seemed all too aware that he had led her to the roof of the school. Her steps slowed as Devyn reached for the door, "What do you mean, incentive?" Confusion flashed in the boy's eyes, until he saw the senior shrinking back from him. The realization replaced confusion with anger, "Am I really so untrustworthy? I was just talking about eating lunch with me. I'm not some monster, miss Kirijo. You know what, forget it, go back to what you were doing." Devyn jerked the door open and slammed it shut in her face. Rage burning in him, Devyn leaps for the top of the doorway, expecting to grab the lip and pull himself up.

But what he expected and what happened didn't match up this time. A second of pressure was the boy's only warning as he shot straight up and over the edge. He flailed about for a second before getting his balance back, and he flopped onto the concrete roof. "What the hell?" **YOU'RE WELCOME. **The booming voice in his skull caused him to flinch, "Who the hell are you?" **TAKE A WILD GUESS, COWBOY. **Panic surged in Devyn, and out of the cacophony of thought a single name pushed through, "...Ogoun?" **BINGO!** "Holy crap, I'm talking to a 'facet of my personality'." **DON'T TRY TO SUGARCOAT IT, TWINKLETOES. YOU'RE TALKING TO YOURSELF.** "Okay, I can accept that," Devyn said, "but why did I suddenly rocket upwards? You shouldn't do anything unless I call you, right? I don't even have the evoker on me." **WHAT, YOU ALREADY FORGOT YOUR CONVERSATION WITH IGOR?** "My...oh, right. So wait, how did I call you this time?" **EXTREME EMOTION IS YOUR CONDUIT TO YOUR PERSONA. THAT GIZMO MAKES YOU IMAGINE YOUR LIFE IS AT STAKE, WHICH IS A PRETTY POWERFUL EMOTION. BUT PRETTY MUCH ANYTHING STRONG'LL DO THE TRICK.** "Cool, I'll keep that in mind." **SWEET, NOW ABOUT WHAT I WOKE UP FOR. AS THE WILD CARD, THERE ARE A FEW PERKS YOU OUGHT'A MAKE USE OF. NEXT TIME, TAKE A LOOK AT THE REDHEAD'S PERSONA. **"How do I do that? She never summons it." **LISTEN, NUMBNUTS. JUST FOCUS ON HER EYES, TRY TO LOOK DEEPER.** "Yessir, captain dickweed." **GOOD...YOU'RE STILL GONNA DO THE STUDENT COUNCIL THING, AREN'T YOU?** "You know me so well..." - Devyn came trudging inside well after nightfall, swaying on his feet. There, sitting in her usual spot, was Mitsuru. "Sullivan, good evening." Devyn leaned against the counter and looked at her, "Rally the troopsh, Mitshuru. We're gonna go killin'." She stood and began to make her way upstairs, then paused, "Are you feeling well, Sullivan?" He guffawed and nearly fell off the counter, "Oh, I'm having a bitchin' day. A little slaughter'll make the perfect end to it. Now, go on, before I leave without y'all." And with that he slid off his perch and stumbled up the stairs.

Once inside Tartarus, everyone gathered around and checked their equipment while their leader held on to a pillar for dear life. He was trying to keep the floor on the bottom and the roof above him when he spotted a floating blue door off to the side. "Pretty blue!" He ran headfirst at it, and the velvet key in his pocket shone bright. When the flash died down, he was back in the velvet room in his usual chair. "I've been waiting for you." Devyn looked up at the owner of the creepy voice, "Hey, Igor! How's it hanging, head honker?" The master of the Velvet Room blinked in astonishment, and Elizabeth said, "Master, I believe our guest is inebriated." The boy looked over at the female, "Ashtute obshervation there, Lizzie." This time it was Elizabeth's turn to be shocked into silence. "Anyway," Igor said, "The time has come for you to wield your power. The tower you're about to venture into...How did it come to be?" "Oh, you don't know? First it gets all green everywhere, then our school goes whoosh, bang, groan..." Devyn got sidetracked making all kinds of sound effects and laughing. "Please, you must understand," Igor begged, "It is of the utmost importance." Devyn quieted down, "Right, right. Sorry, please go on."

"...I've lost my train of thought." Igor seemed annoyed by this time, "Let's just dispense with the theatrics until you've sobered up. You are able to possess multiple Personas, and summon them as needed. When you've defeated your enemies, you have a chance to develop your power. Seize the opportunity, and your power will grow accordingly. The next time you visit, I'll explain my role in this. Until next time..." Devyn smiled, "Okay then. Bye Igor, bye Lizzie!" The room around him faded to black, then he was back in the foyer of Tartarus. "Hey, are you alright?" "Yeah, what's up? You look like a zombie." The American turned around slowly to face Yukari and Junpei, then raised his arms in front of him and groaned. Yukari shrieked and Junpei took a step back, then Devyn began cracking up. Yukari was furious, "What is wrong with you!" Devyn stood back up and put on a serious face, "I'm drunk, you dolt! What do you think's wrong with..." He cut off again as he doubled over laughing. The seniors overheard and came over, "Drunk? You're underage, Sullivan!" He stood back up and looked Akihiko straight in the eye, "I know how old I am, boxer boy." Mitsuru took another step forward, "If the leader's in this shape, then I'm afraid we can't...mph!" She was interrupted by Devyn lurching forward and kissing her right on the mouth. He pulled back and saw that she was blushing fiercely and the others were shocked to silence. Remembering what Ogoun had said earlier, Devyn stared deep into Mitsuru's eyes and saw a female figure with a crown and sword. "Penthesilea, huh?" She flinched a little, and Devyn took off toward the stairs, tossing his evoker back to her, "Keep up, rookies!"

The Wild Card wielder blasted through the door and began tearing through every Shadow in sight. He could hear the others catching up, so he took off deeper in. He was filled with a fierce joy as he spun, leaped, and slashed through hordes of monsters in a drunken daze. At each intersection, he'd leave a knife or a scorch mark on the wall to show where he'd gone. Enjoying the game, he always stayed just out of sight of Junpei or Yukari, and sometimes completely evaded Shadows so they'd have to fight to catch up with him. In his carelessness, he'd collected a few injuries here and there, and they were starting to slow him down. **Let me take care of that, dear.** Suddenly, the cuts and burns started disappearing. "I didn't know you could heal, Ogoun." **No honey, it's me, Pixie.** "Oh, hi Pixie. Welcome aboard." **Thank you.** "So who else did I pick up on this trip?" **Let's see, there's me, Apsaras, Angel, Ara Mitama, Omoikane, and Forneus. **"Wow, quite a large group. Hello, everybody." Devyn stumbled as a chorus of greeting echoed in his head, "Okay, maybe a one at a time rule is in order." Finally, Devyn had to stop at the fifth floor to throw up in a corner. It was at that time Junpei and Yukari finally caught up to the drunken youth.

"Dude, not cool." Devyn wiped his mouth and looked up to see the others in complete disarray. Junpei's cap was about to fall off, their clothes were all rumpled and covered in ichor, and Yukari's arrows were about to fall out of their quiver. "How can you be so irresponsible? You could've gotten killed doing that!" Devyn stepped closer to Yukari and she took a step back, "Calm down, sweetheart. I'm doing better than you two, and I'm drunk off my ass. Plus, I figured out how to summon my Persona without that evoker." Junpei blinked at that, "Say what, now?" Devyn laughed, "Didn't you wonder about those burn marks all along the walls? That was me! Oh, by the way, here you go." He passed off a broadsword to Junpei, "That ought to be a little better than what you got. I picked it up on the way here. Now, let's keep going with our game, before I sober up." Yukari stomped her foot, "No way! Do you have any idea how worried we were about you? Besides, we're exhausted. Come on, let's go back."

Devyn shook his head, "Nuh-uh. I don't wanna quit. You turn around if you want to, I'm still going." And he took off again. He didn't make it far, however, as a large eagle shaped Shadow blocked his way. "Anyone else smell a challenge?" _**I'd like to participate in this one, if you don't mind. I'm Apsaras.**_ "No problem, let's do this." Devyn dodged left as a gust of wind launched at him, and jumped up to rebound off the wall. Once airborne, he reached for that last bit of happiness left over and focused on the blade of his short sword. The blade quickly lengthened as a thick layer of ice began building over it. With another mental push, he grabbed Angel's wind power and forced a huge gust from his feet. This propelled him down quickly enough to pierce through the eagle's neck with the longer weapon and pin it to the floor. "Well, that was a disappointment." _**It's because we hit the Shadow's weakness. It causes much more damage than one would expect. **_"Is that so?" The other two showed up just as the giant Shadow began dissolving.

"What the hell are you, man?" Devyn flicked the blade of his weapon to remove the last of the ick, then sheathed it with a flourish and looked back at them, "One certified bad motherfucker, that's who. Ooh, shiny." He snatched up a golden mask and walked over to some weird looking machine. "Hey, isn't there one of these on the first floor?" Junpei walked over, "Yeah, you're right," He reached out and touched it, causing a green light to turn on. Before anyone could react, a flash of white light erupted from the machine, and the three were brought back to the first floor. "So you finally caught him." Devyn looked back to see Akihiko and Mitsuru standing there looking angry.

"Technically," he said, "They didn't catch me. I stopped. Got sick up on the fifth floor." Akihiko stepped up and threw a jab at Devyn's stomach, which he easily sidestepped, "Probably not a good idea to hit me there, chief." But the boxer wasn't listening, "What in the world made you think it was okay to get drunk then come fight monsters!" The blue eyed boy felt a headache coming on, so he decided to finish the argument early, "Two things. First, I don't need your fucking permission to drink. You aren't my father, Skippy. And second, being called a rapist doesn't sit to well with a sober me." While the group was reeling from that declaration, Devyn strode out of the tower, reached for his new Persona enhanced strength, and took off toward the dorm. -


	4. Chapter 4

For the next few days, the group avoided Devyn, and he went about his days seemingly unconcerned. He perpetually had his headphones on and still cooked almost every night. Whenever he crossed paths with the others, he'd wave and smile, then they'd drop their eyes and go their own way. Finally, after school on the first of May, the young American was lounging at his desk enjoying a little music when he noticed Yukari and Junpei talking. Normally this wouldn't interest him in the least, but as he leaned back to finish his song in peace, he saw Yukari glance his way. As hard as everyone had been trying to ignore Devyn, the little look spoke volumes. So he waited for the pair to approach, all the while singing to himself, "Doesn't matter what I say, long as I sing with inflection..."

His fellow shadow slayers approached casually, obviously trying hard not to act like anything happened. "Hey man," Junpei started, "Akihiko-san's at the hospital getting a checkup. He called me earlier and asked me to bring him something. You wanna tag along?" Devyn stood up, smiling as he continues his song, "Cause the hoook brings you back. I ain't tellin' you no lies." The two of them seemed confused at his remark, until Devyn gestured the two of them to lead the way. They seemed even more surprised when he pulled a harmonica from his pocket and began playing along. Eventually, the song ended and he removed his headphones, "Sorry, I just really love that song." Yukari shook her head, "It's no problem. You've actually got a pretty nice voice." Junpei laughed, "Yeah, who would've thought." And just like that, the archer's good mood vanished, "Stupei."

The American laughed at his friends antics, following along silently. It actually surprised the boy that he had been able to make friends so fast. Sure, they were all in the same boat, with the Shadows and Persona, but that doesn't constitute a friendship by any means. It had been a long time since Devyn could really relax around anyone. They continued on this way until they reached the hospital, then Devyn slipped on his sunglasses, hitched up his collar, and tied a bandana on his head. He walked confidently through the hallways, making his disguise look like it was anything but. "Dude," Junpei said, "why'd you cover up like that?" Devyn looked over his shoulder and answered, "There was one nurse in particular who seemed fiercely against my leaving this hospital. I'd rather not run into her again." They stepped into Akihiko's room and glanced around. He wasn't in, but a guy in a purple peacoat and black beanie sat in the corner of the room.

Junpei, being his normal self, was intimidated by the guy, "Um... Is... Akihiko-senpai...?" Devyn scoffed, "Oh, for the love of...hey, we're looking for Sanada. He here?" Just then, the boxer came in behind them and asked, "What are all of you guys doing here?" Yukari spun around, "We came to see you! But... it doesn't look like anything's wrong with you." Akihiko shook his head, "I'm just here for a checkup." The chair scraped across the floor as the beanie man stood, "Is that it, Aki?" He looked over and nodded, "Yeah, thanks." Beanie man scowled, "Tch, I don't have time for this shit." As he moves to leave, Devyn steps in front of him, "Watch your tongue in front of a lady." The taller man tried to stare him down, which gave our Wild Card his chance. "Remember, Castor, only Polydeuces was immortal."

This once again caused collective shock, and Devyn began to wonder if he shouldn't downplay the theatrics for a while. Beanie man was so freaked out he forgot to act tough as he stepped around him and exited. "How do you do that, Sullivan?" Devyn turned and smiled insolently at Akihiko, "Do what, Sanada-san?" Yukari showed off her wonderful sense of timing by adding, "Didn't he do the same thing to Mitsuru-senpai?" He groaned inwardly and said, "Junpei, didn't you have something for Akihiko-san?" The magician suddenly remembered and said, "Oh, right. Here you go, senpai." He passed the senior a sheet of paper and Devyn zoned out for the rest of the conversation. 'Hey, Ogoun. What does it mean when two unrelated people have personae based on brothers?' **MOST LIKELY THAT THEY'RE AS CLOSE AS BROTHERS. CHANCES ARE THEY'RE NEIGHBORS, OR ORPHANS WHO GREW UP TOGETHER. **'Thanks for the opinion. It definitely makes sense. By the way, how come all the personae we've seen so far are Greco-Roman? I got a Haitian voodoo persona.' **YOU ****ALSO GREW UP IN A DIFFERENT PLACE AND MORE CLOSELY IDENTIFY WITH ME. IT'S ALL ABOUT FRAME OF MIND. BESIDES, THERE'S ALWAYS THE BLAME IT ON THE WILD CARD EXCUSE.** He noticed that the others were leaving the room, and followed.

- Later that night, he entered the dorm and found Mitsuru sitting in the lobby reading. She looked up as he entered and quickly dropped her gaze. The blue eyed boy sat in the chair opposite and said, "Okay, I think it's time we acted mature about this and cleared the air." Mitsuru looked up and set her book on the table, "I suppose we must, if we are to continue living so closely together. I apologize for our earlier misunderstanding." He nodded, "If you didn't want me flirting with you, all you had to do was say something. But if there's one thing I cannot stand, it's having women afraid of me." The Kirijo heiress blinked, "Just women?" Devyn chuckled, "I'm sure you've heard the phrase, 'chivalry is dead'?" She nodded, "Well, I personally refuse to let it die. I believe that everyone is worthy of respect, until they act disrespectful. And I go out of my way to see ladies are treated as such. To see one so obviously terrified by my presence, is wounding."

This speech caused the redhead to take a closer look at the person sitting across from her. Devyn hoped that with this, she'd separate him from the unnamed mass of acquaintances in her mind and look at him as an individual. To see more than his face and name. To use those eyes that she had on the ride back after training so long ago. "And...that night in Tartarus?" He leaned back in his chair, "Now that, I'm not sorry for. Any part of it. I like a little alcohol sometimes, and you're a very beautiful woman." Oh wow, who knew her face could match her hair color? Mitsuru quickly grabbed her book and made her way towards the stairs, but as he watched her leave, he felt a rush of warmth. THOU SHALT HAVE OUR BLESSING WHEN CREATING PERSONAS OF THE EMPRESS ARCANA.

Yeah, somehow this situation was gonna work out.

- The next day, Devyn was back in front of the stove, making a rather simple breakfast. He was just pulling the biscuits out of the oven when the girls came downstairs. Yukari just came strolling into the kitchen and sat down, but Mitsuru shuffled, almost like she was avoiding looking at him. Well, he did drop a bomb on her last night, maybe it was too much to expect her to process it in one night. He silently placed a couple plates of eggs, bacon, and biscuits in front of them, made his own plate, and sat down. "Oh, almost forgot." He leaned back in his chair and grabbed the pot of tomato gravy and poured a generous amount on his food. Yukari made the usual exclamations of approval, but Devyn wasn't listening to her. They finished their meal, and he washed the dishes as they took off for school. "Oh, we're heading out to Tartarus tonight, so get back here on time." They nodded and left for the day.

School was dull, and Devyn spaced out for the whole day, coming to just long enough to eat his lunch. Once back at the dorm, he went straight to his room to get his gear in order. But while he prepared, he wondered if maybe he was asking people to accept an incomplete version of himself. At first the Wild Card shrugged it off, blaming it on the eerie quiet of pre-battle preparation, but it kept worrying at the back of his mind. 'Yo, Ogoun. You think maybe I'm not entirely honest with the guys?' **KID, YOU'RE NOT EVEN COMPLETELY HONEST WITH YOURSELF. **'What do you mean by that?' **THINK BACK TO THE PSYCHOLOGY THAT GADGET WAS SO INTERESTED IN. **'You remember Gadget?' **DO WE REALLY HAVE TO GO OVER THE WHOLE I'M YOU THING?** 'Right, sorry. But yeah, what about it?' **WHAT IS A SHADOW? **'The suppressed emotions and insecurities that people have.' **AND WHEN CONTROLLED BY THE EGO? **'...A Persona?' **AND THE MORON FINALLY GETS IT. **'Hey, if I'm an idiot, and you're me...'

"Hello again." Devyn spun to see Pharos sitting on his bed again, "Jesus, kid, you're gonna give me a heart attack." He chuckled, "It's been a while, are you well?" The American shrugged, "As well as can be expected. I'm not really used to people. What's going on?" "One week from now, there will be a full moon." The pale kid stood up, "Be careful, a new ordeal awaits you." Devyn shrugged, "If I gotta do it, then I'll do it. A full moon, huh?" Pharos smiled, "Yes, on such days you will face your greatest challenges." He disappeared for a moment, then faded back in by the door, "I'll come see you again when it's over. Goodbye for now." Then he just vanished. Devyn sat back down, "Damn, that boy is creepy. But as far as I can tell, he's a good kid. But back to what I was doing..."

Later, during the Dark Hour, SEES was gathered in Tartarus once again. "Alright, you two. This time, I won't go running off. We're gonna start from the last floor we were on, and see how far we can get." Mitsuru chimed in, "Last time, I detected a barrier a ways up from your position. I think that should be our objective for the night." Devyn nodded, "Understood, now let's go." The trio touched the transporter and found themselves back on the fifth floor. "Okay, let's move." The group started smashing their way through, Devyn holding back a little to let Junpei take the lead on charges. After a couple floors, he started to get a better feel for his weapon and Devyn saw him becoming a rather formidable ally. Yukari, on the other hand, was a real pain in his ass. Literally, when she shot him. Finally, he'd had enough, "Okay, let's stop for a second. Takeba, do you mind putting some of those arrows into the ENEMY?" The archer got defensive, "It's not my fault! You guys move too fast, and once I shoot, I can't change where the arrow's going."

Oh really, Devyn grabs her bow away from her, "I'm about to teach you something, Takeba. Watch this." As he drew back on the bow, he called out in his head, 'Angel, do you mind?' _Not at all. _He loosed the arrow and reached quickly for the Persona's wind powers, lessening the resistance in front and causing a blast of wind that shot the arrow around the corner, and into a Shadow from the sound of it. As he handed the bow back to the astonished girl, he said, "Personas are summoned by strong emotion. Feel something, then use the power you have to push the arrow where you want it. And for the love of all that's holy, don't shoot me in the ass anymore." And so for a while, Junpei and Devyn played bodyguard while Yukari got the hang of her new guided arrow skill, only jumping in to keep some distance between her and the Shadows. Once they hit the tenth floor, the only enemy was a large hand with a face. "Mitsuru-chan, can you give us an analysis?" Devyn heard their support utter an affirmative, and he started in on the guardian. For a while, he cycled through his personae, checking for any weaknesses while waiting for Mitsuru, then she finally came back with, "It seems ice attacks will have no effect. Unfortunately, it's only weakness is striking attacks."

The leader looked down at his weapon, "Well, then this is useless." He stuffed the sword back into it's sheath and grabbed his Evoker from a shoulder holster. He twirled it around so he was holding it by the barrel, and hoped Ogoun saw what he was going for. Sure enough, when the ersatz gun smashed into the Shadow's mask, an explosion blasted out and threw the glove across the room. "Let's go wild, gang!" The SEES kids rushed in and began cruelly beating the living hell out of the guardian, but after a few minutes, the monster regained it's feet(?) and began flailing. Everyone jumped back to avoid the wild swings and Devyn got ready to pistol whip it again as soon as it stopped. But from the corner of his eye, the leader noticed what appeared to be heat waves rising from Junpei's blade. 'He finally got pissed off enough to use it, huh? Well, let him go.' Devyn stepped back and yelled, "Iori, take him down!" Without hesitation, the Magician rushed in and brought a massive strike down on the Shadow's mask. As soon as the blade made contact, flames exploded outwards, forcing the sword down quicker and slicing the mask in half. Devyn applauded as the guardian dissolved, stopping to grab the large ring the Shadow dropped. "Very good, Junpei." He said, "Pretty soon the both of you won't even need your Evokers. You'll be able to do this," Angel appeared over his shoulder, "all on your own." He passed the ring off to Junpei, "That's for doing a good job tonight. You can sell that at Palownia Mall for a good bit of cash. Now let's get out of..." Devyn turned and saw five figures in cloaks standing in front of the transporter. He whipped his sword from it's sheath, "What the hell, Mitsuru? Why didn't you say there were more Shadows up here?"

Silence.

"Mitsuru? You there?" Still no response. Suddenly Devyn began to panic. They left a lady and an injured guy down there, and they had no way to defend themselves if anything big got down there. Suddenly, a flurry of fireballs rushed toward SEES and they flung themselves to the side to avoid being barbecued. Devyn tried to charge the cloaked figures, but a brutal gust of wind stopped him in his tracks. He strained against the pressure forcing him back, and a sudden intuition told him to jump back as spikes of earth shot from the ground beneath him. 'Well, if you can't get close to them...' Devyn reached into his pocket and grabbed the revolver he'd used in his speech for Junpei, fully loaded this time of course, and fired at the lead cloak. The bullet hit and the unknown enemy rocked back. There was a moment of stunned silence, then the figure stood straight again. A loud roar burst from his hood, and something shot from his sleeve. Devyn only had a second to look at this new weapon before he was attacked. Almost before he could react, Cloak 1 had closed the distance and came down with an overhead strike.

He brought his sword up and stopped the bone blade a scant centimeter from his face. While he fought to push the weapon away, he threw his foot forward hoping to push his adversary back. Apparently, Cloak 1 had thought of that as well, and they both got thrown back to their respective comrades. "Anytime you guys wanna help, that'd be great!" Devyn yelled as he stood up. "Dude, what do you want us to do? You can barely keep up with these guys!" Yukari nodded her agreement, "I think we should run. We can't do anything against these Shadows yet." The leader shook his head as Cloak 1 came back toward them and began wildly slashing, "Something's up with Mitsuru. We gotta get to the transporter and get down there to help her. Now do what you can to push through. If you see an opening, use the transporter. We'll be right behind you."

The next few minutes were a blur as Devyn fought to survive the quickening strikes of Cloak, Junpei started running headlong into the others, and Yukari tried to sneak around while sniping into the group using her curving arrows. There was an explosion in Junpei's direction and Cloak 1's attention slipped long enough for Devyn to get a slash through to his enemy's chest. Cloak leaped back, and Devyn rushed toward the transporter. He just barely managed to make it to the machine before the bone blade hit him in the spine. What he saw in the lobby wasn't much better. Mitsuru was thrown against a pillar off to the side, and Devyn couldn't see Akihiko anywhere. But sitting on the steps, whistling a tune, was another cloaked person. "Dammit, another one? You freaks are everywhere!" This new enemy just chuckled, grabbed a sword from where it lay at his side, and stood. "Oh, you wanna go?" Devyn asked, shifting his weapon to his left hand, "Then let's party, motherfucker." He closed quickly, thrusting at the enemy's heart, but New Cloak slapped his blade away and came around for a cut to the neck.

The American ducked it and pushed for a shoulder charge, but Cloak stepped back and kicked him in the gut. To New Cloak's astonishment, Devyn caught the leg and brought the hilt of his sword down on the offender's knee. Then, to Devyn's surprise, the knee didn't break. Confused, the Wild Card almost forgot to dodge when New Cloak tried to cut his leg out from under him. He retreated to a safe distance and tried to get a better feel for his opponent, but unfortunately, New Cloak had another trick up his sleeve. Suddenly, he disappeared and Devyn, thinking quickly, spun around. That wasn't the trick, however, and he was smashed in the skull with the back of Cloak's blade. The edge of Devyn's vision darkened, and he nearly fell to his knees. He heard New Cloak's footsteps as he turned to leave, and rage filled the SEES leader. This monster thought it could beat his friends and just walk away? The insolence! Devyn used that rage to force feed Dia through his system and he tackled New Cloak, yanking the hood away from his face to see who he was about to pummel. But when he saw Cloak's face, he froze. It wasn't possible, there was no way. He'd seen her die years ago. He'd buried her, for God's sake! His old leader sneered up at him, "What's the matter, boy? Can't hit me now that you know who I am?" A spike of red lightning hit Devyn in the chest and threw him hard against a pillar. "You always were soft. Even after your own father tried to kill you, and I scarred you. Pathetic. You were never cut out for this life."

Another lance of the red lightning hit him and his body exploded in agony. Every muscle seized up and he couldn't even scream from the pain. After what felt like an eternity, the pain died down and he could breathe again. As he gulped down air, he looked up and saw that the other cloaks had arrived, two of them carrying Junpei and Yukari. "I guess he's grown a little, to make you remove your hood, honey." Devyn's head jerked to the cloak holding Junpei, who had spoken. He saw the boy looking and dropped his hood to reveal a man with light brown hair, pulled back into a short ponytail. The yellow eyes were new, but there was no mistaking the scar over his left eye, "Leon? What the hell's going on here? You died! Are the others..." His voice died in his throat as the rest of the hoods were drawn back and he saw the faces of his old crew. The boss flipped her red hair back over her shoulder and laughed, "He may have gotten stronger, love, but he's still that kid we tossed around in the street. Look at him, he's got my knife harness on. It's been four years, let go already." She grabbed the katana from where it had fallen, "If nothing else, you had a good eye for blades. This Muramasa has served me well here." Devyn's legs were going numb, "Stop changing the subject, I watched the Reaper destroy you guys. How did you guys get here, Melody?" His old mentor arched her brow, "I don't recall giving you permission to use my name, boy. Oh well, I'll let it slide since it's been so long. But to answer your question, you only saw Reaper beat us, not destroy us. We got back up and killed him." Devyn shook his head, "Bullshit! I buried you." Melody yawned, "This conversation is boring me." She tossed a ring down by Devyn's feet, "If you really wanna know, you're gonna have to grow up a little. That ring'll help you. Wear it all the time." Then, they all just vanished again.


	5. Big Break

Luckily it was Golden Week, so nobody complained when Devyn spent the next two days in his room. But sure enough, on the morning of the third day he heard Yukari and Junpei talking in low voices outside of his door. The distraught Wild Card lurched to his feet and opened the door, startling the two out of their argument. "Can I help you two lovebirds?" Of course Yukari, being Yukari, immediately jumped on the possible rumor instead of answering, "What do you mean lovebirds!" Junpei though, had noticed his friend's appearance. Iori's silence unnerved Devyn and he looked down at himself. He was in an old pair of jeans, with his old sword belts wrapped around his waist, no shirt, and he felt some stubble growing on his chin. He hadn't brushed his hair in a while, so it could've been in another dimension for all he knew, and the bags under his eyes he knew he had attested to sleeplessness. "Take a picture," he said, "it lasts longer." This feeble attempt at snarkiness snapped them out of their respective distractions, and Yukari spoke up, "We were actually wondering if you wanted to go do something today. You've been inside for almost all of Golden Week."

"Not really," he replied, "I snuck out the other day to go to church. I just went out the window." Junpei seemed surprised, "Why'd you do something like that, dude?" Devyn shrugged, "I'm a bit of a mess right now, and I'm not entirely sure how I'd apologize for my old friends beating the holy hell out of everybody." He had told all of them the truth once they returned to the dorm that night, and Mitsuru had tried to take Melody's ring from him to study. Only after a lot of yelling and Akihiko getting bit did they leave well enough alone. Now they all stood in silence for a moment before Io's wielder spoke up again, "Let's not worry about that now. We should go do something, instead of being cooped up all day." The American smiled at their concern and felt twin cracks announcing their social links strengthening again. He asked for a little time to shower and get dressed and they went to wait in the lobby. He showered and grabbed a clean shirt, then paused. He grabbed the ring from his desk and looked at it for a minute, peering closely at the carving. At first he thought it was a comma or an apostrophe, but then he realized how stupid that was and looked closer.

Finally he could make out small arms curled up at the 'head' of the thing, and decided it was some kind of creature. It was certainly disturbing, but even after the other night's catastrophe, he couldn't bring himself to distrust Melody. He slipped the ring on his finger and headed down to meet up with the others. After walking around Iwatodai station for a while, the group decided to head to the Naganaki shrine. Devyn snagged some takoyaki and stocked up on drinks out of the vending machines, but through some mistake, one of his Dr. Peppers turned out to be a 'Mad Bull'. He shrugged and threw it into his pocket with the others, and they left for the shrine. Once they arrived, though, Devyn noticed a little girl by herself by the jungle gym. He strode over and called out, "Hello there. You here all by yourself?" The young girl turned around, looking a little nervous, "Mama said not to talk to strangers. But you don't look like a bad man. Are you bad?" He pretended to think for a minute, then said, "I don't think I am. Nobody ever called me bad, so I guess not." It was at that moment that she noticed the takoyaki in his hand, "Oh, I love takoyaki! Can I have some?"

Devyn handed the whole box to the girl, and she quickly devoured the whole thing. He waited patiently, glancing around to see the others praying over at the shrine. When she finished, she immediately announced that she was thirsty. Devyn quickly reached for one of his Dr. Peppers, but instead pulled out the Mad Bull. He was going to replace it when she snatched it from his hand, "My favorite!" Devyn watched stunned as she guzzled the energy drink, "Mon Dieu, fille. Slow down or you'll choke." She finished the can and dumped her trash into the nearby bin, "Thank you, mister. You're a really nice man." He smiled and cracked a his own can, "Well, thank you ma'am. Now maybe it's time you head on home. Next time we meet, maybe we can play for a while." "Okay," she said, "bye, mister." The girl ran off but Devyn stayed crouched in place for a while, lost in thought. "Yo dude, everything okay?" He glanced over to see Yukari and Junpei looking at him nervously. He stood slowly, drained the last of his soda, and crushed the can before tossing it, "That girl's got trouble at home. She didn't want to go back when I told her." Junpei readjusted his cap, "Kids never wanna go home, man. How could you tell, I didn't see anything." Devyn shook his head and turned to leave, "It's all in the eyes, Junpei. You should've seen it, since you've got a similar problem."

They spent the rest of the day goofing off, then headed back to the dorm. Mitsuru was in her usual place reading, and turned to greet them when they entered. "You're all ba-" She stopped when Devyn came through the door, and her eyes darted to the ring on his finger. The temperature dropped a few degrees, then Devyn decided to make **his** irritation known. He shifted to Nekomata and poured anger into an agi skill that spiked the heat in the whole room. He refused to let up until everyone began to shift uncomfortably, then released the spell. "I don't pry into everyone else's problems," he said, "I thought I could expect the same from a group of children with daddy issues. Whether he's abusive, neglectful, or gone, at least he wasn't murderous. And now you want to take a gift from the only mother figure I had from me? Go fuck yourselves, all of you. I'm quitting your pathetic group, deal with your own shit." Then he stomped up to his room and slammed the door hard enough to damage it. He slumped into his chair and rummaged in the desk drawer until he found his silver chain. "Betrayal, deceit, and sorrow. Just another chapter in the epic of the Moonstruck Martyr, huh?"

Devyn slid the chain around his neck and leaped out the window. A few hours and many bottles of whiskey later, our Wild Card sat in the school library. A half-empty bottle sit on the table beside him as he pulled his thoughts together. Breathing deeply, he calmed himself and pushed with his will. Suddenly in the chairs around him, a group of people appeared. "What the hell? How did you do that?" Devyn swiveled his head to the teenage girl wearing pink cat ears and said, "Personae are my mind made manifest. If I keep my will constant, you can exist for extended periods. And your appearance is subject to whim as well, dear Nekomata." The newly conjured personae began looking themselves over and decided they found their looks appropriate enough, then a young woman in dark sunglasses and a leather jacket stood up, "Well, this is certainly cool, but why go through the trouble?" The drunk American laughed, "That is a very good question, Angel. I have brought you here before me, for no practical reason. Eventually, every human begins to feel the weight of loneliness crushing them. And finally, after years of this horrible cycle, I'm beginning to break under it."

"So you thought talking to multiple versions of yourself was going to help? You are pathetic." A girl in dancer's clothing smacked the large man in military dress beside her, "Be nice, Ogoun. Think about it: his mother died, his father attempted murder, his old friends are the new bad guys, and his new friends keep opening old wounds." Devyn drained the bottle and tossed it toward the floor, but a fellow in large nerdy glasses grabbed it, "Thank you ,Apsaras, for outlining my whole clusterfucked history in so few words. Yes imaginary friends, my life officially sucks. And now I have some issues to work out. Boss says I haven't grown enough." Glasses man set the bottle back on the table, "Well obviously. Look at yourself, you're the same drunken battle-crazy crybaby that you were when they scraped you off the streets. Everything you did after their death was in their image. You never wanted to travel, Leon did. Melody used those knives you swing around, and you fell for a girl that looks exactly like-"

"YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP!" The simple absurdity of yelling at figments of your imagination caused Omoikane to fall silent. Devyn had stood up on the table and was shaking in fury. "I didn't call you all here to berate my stupidity. I know all that very well. And I sure as hell didn't do it to have you discuss my love life." He sank back down, back bent in exhaustion, "I need help. I don't know where to go from here. All my life I've had people leading me by the hand, and now I'm thrust to the fore. They all want me to fight Boss. And I promised I'd never fight my friends." Ogoun stood up from his chair and glanced at the clock on the wall, "You want answers? Give it a sec, I've got an idea." Devyn's alcohol addled brain couldn't piece together Ogoun's plan, so he just sat quietly as the clock struck 12. Being inside the school when it changes is massively unpleasant, as our hero found out. He was flung upward and collided with pretty much everything in the room as it rearranged itself into it's space in Tartarus.

He lost any kind of focus as he got sick in midair and eventually landed in a puddle of his own vomit. Devyn was perfectly willing to lay there, though, because laying somewhere meant he had stopped moving. But finally the smell got to him and he stood up to rip his shirt off. So there he was, standing shirtless and weaponless in the middle of Tartarus, when Ogoun showed up again and began bellowing at the top of his lungs, "HEY GUYS! THE LITTLE CRYBABY NEEDS SOME ADVICE!" He lunged at the persona's back, feeling a little resistance before passing through his body, "Will you shut up? You're gonna bring down the Shadow's on us, if not one of the crew." And sure enough, a Shadow comes bolting around the corner and straight at him. A quick stomp to the mask dissolved the irritation, then he quickly had to dive forward as an electric attack tore through the space he was in. "You don't have time to argue with me, boy. Now fight!" Then Ogoun began to walk off, screaming bloody murder and attracting more Shadows. Devyn did his best to survive the onslaught, punching and kicking in a bestial frenzy.

He tore through Mayas, Ravens, Phantoms, used a Heat Balance to impale a Bestial Wheel, and beat a Table into the ground with a Book. Before long, Devyn began to feel that usual rush from especially difficult combat, and started to have fun with it. He turned midair flips and rebounded off walls, snapped the legs off of Shadows and used them as clubs, and even used his persona enhanced strength to claw masks off his enemies. Finally he caught a breather and looked around to see quite a few of them still decomposing on the floor. A light sheen of sweat covered his body, but he felt really good. The alcohol had long since worn off and there was barely any damage to his body. It even seemed like a few of his scars had disappeared. As he was examining himself, he happened to glance at his ring and spotted something different about it. The small creature that had been carved into the top had moved. Now the arms were spread and reaching out, it's body turned toward the outside. "Well that's just creepy." The bodies around him finally dissolved completely, leaving him panting by the wall. Once he caught his breath, he pushed off and began exploring this unfamiliar region of Tartarus.

So far, everything the explorers had seen was a headache inducing green color, but this floor was a deep purple. And thinking back a little, the Shadows he'd faced had been different from normal. "Well," he said, "it couldn't have been the same all the way up, anyway. That would've been boring." Before long he'd found the access point and he considered going back down, but there was a feeling he couldn't quite ignore. "Today's been a sucky day, why should I go back? If I can thin out the Shadows here, it'll make the job easier for the others, and I really can't look at them right now. I put all this effort into being a nice guy, and the second they glimpse my old life, the masks come off. Well, fuck them." He turned and sped off, searching for the stairs. - A few floors later he hit a snag. There before him were huge Shadows shaped like tables, and since they were the only three on the floor, he assumed they were guardians. "Wow, as mad as I am at her, I kinda wish Mitsuru was here. That scan ability of hers would really be useful now." But like it or not he was alone, so he took a deep breath and studied his opponent, looking for any obvious weaknesses. Nothing much to look at really, just three tables with flaming swords, cups, sticks, and coins over them. But hey, in for the obvious. "Hey, any good ice slingers up there?"

Apsaras appeared again in her dancer's garb, but this time she had a little doll-like creature in her arms, and accompanied by a rather arrogant looking man in a sharkskin jacket. "Here we are, take your pick." Devyn scratched his head and pondered for a minute, "I'm horrible with choices. Isn't there some way to use all three?" Apsaras scowled at him, "Not yet, you greedy child." "Child? You can't be more than 20, who are you to call me child?" She walked up and smacked him, "I'm an immortal concept, fool. But thank you, it's always nice you hear men still find me pretty." The Wild Card just grinned and shook his head, "I give up. Apsaras, may I have this dance?" She burst out laughing and handed the little Jack Frost off to Forneus, then took his offered hand. There was a flash of white as his personae vanished, and he felt a chill slide over his exposed skin. When he went to rub the goosebumps away, he saw a mass of white lines running along his body.

"Holy Hannah, what's going on?" _**I haven't the slightest idea. We just tried to disappear back into your mind, but it seems I've been caught in your body. **_"Is that gonna be a problem?" _**I honestly don't know.**_ One way to find out, he thought as he charged the enemy. They quickly noticed his presence and sent a volley of fireballs his way. Without any thought, Devyn's body twisted out of the way of the first spell, then slid his leg out to drop below the next. A smooth twirl brought him back up to his feet, and he leaped forward to land a kick square in the first table's mask. "What the hell is going on here? I can't dance." _**No, but that was my job. Maybe this is the effect of our little accident. **_"So I can dance now, cool. You think I can pull of magic?" _**I know a good way to find out.**_ "Awesome, let's do it!" The teenager sidestepped another salvo of fire and flung his arms forward. Nothing.

"What the hell? What, did I do that wrong?" _**You didn't think it was just **__**like stretching out your fingers, did you?**_ "I had kinda hoped!" _**You have to focus, child. Cold is created by absorption. In this case, take the energy from the air around your enemy. "**_Yeah, I'll just reach out and yank some energy, good call." _**Sarcasm isn't appreciated, boy. Now reach out, with your hand and mind, and grab it! **_"Eh, might as well. Not like this internal dialogue is gonna kill them." So he hopped up on one of the stationary Shadows, grabbed the floating sword above it, and rammed it down at the corner, cutting off one of the legs. As that one tipped over, Devyn reached out and focused as hard as he could. That was when he noticed the slight haze of red around the monster that hadn't been there before. He focused on that aura, clamping his fist and yanking back as hard as he could. The result was a sizable chunk of ice forming around the table and freezing it. "Awesome! I just did magic myself! Why does it feel different from channeling, though?" _**Because even when you're channeling, you just use your emotions to summon a portion of our powers. We still do all the work.**_ "Good to know." he said as he grabbed the large coin floating around his head.

He waved it a little to get the weight, then dropped it, kicking the edge as hard as he could. The large plate of metal went spinning insanely fast toward the Shadowsicle and shattered it upon impact. He then tried his new freezing powers on the docile wounded Shadow under him, and stomped it to death. "That is the coolest thing I've done yet. Wait until the guys see..." His face fell as he remembered how he stormed out earlier and the reason why he had felt the need to. The lines around his skin began to fade as he sat against the wall, using his new swag as a cushion to sit on. "Did I overreact? They had every right to be skeptical of the guys. They don't know them, and they did get beaten pretty bad." Devyn rolled the idea in his head for a while, but the shivering that had been too small to notice earlier suddenly ramped up into full blown freezing. The boy's limbs felt like they were burning off and his teeth were chattering like crazy, grabbing his cushion cloth and wrapping it around himself. It did little good, however, as he felt himself becoming drowsy. "How do you like your first taste of backlash?" He looked up to see a cloaked figure standing above him.

The female figure reached up and pulled back her hood, revealing her short black hair and smiling face. Her blue eyes glittered as she sat beside Devyn and put her arms around him, "Sucks, doesn't it? What you're feeling is a side effect of the Magatama ring." He looked up in askance while he nuzzled closer. "That's the ring Boss gave you. It came from some other world that got connected to ours a long time ago. Apparently, in that other world a human could get a demon's power. One in particular used the power of a parasite called Magatama to completely change his body into a demon's. He then used that power to separate the worlds again and his power faded. But he brought a few things back with him." Devyn breathed deeply until he thought he could speak without biting his tongue, "Kitty..." But she ignored him, as she had always done when they spoke, "Backlash is what happens when a new person wears the ring. It either draws out the inherent demonic powers in a person, or they can take their power from another demon. But if you start taking power too early, when your body's too human, it'll cost you. See, since your persona was ice-type, you got hypothermia. If it had been a fire-type, you'd feel like you were burning alive right now." He sighed, there was only one way to make her quiet down, and he hated to do it now. But he knew if he didn't do something, she'd keep talking until he died of old age. So he sat up, wrapped his arm around her waist, and kissed her. He could feel her shifting emotions quickly, from surprise, to acceptance, to refusal. He pulled back and waited for the inevitable. SLAP!

"You sure pick the weirdest times to get romantic, Dev. For one, I'm not human anymore, and two you left me for.." This time he interrupted her, "As I recall, I didn't leave until I caught you sleeping with Gadget in our room." She blushed furiously and looked away from him, "I said I was sorry about that." Devyn stood and rolled his cloth into a makeshift toga, covering his torso, "I don't blame you anymore, Kitty. I wasn't what you were looking for in a man, so you went and found it. But I just wish you'd cared enough about me to tell me first, is all." He offered his hand and pulled her to her feet. "Did the other guys use this? They absorbed their Persona?" Kitty nodded, "Yup, all of us." To demonstrate she raised her arm, which turned a lighter shade and armor sprang up over it. A wand appeared from nowhere into her hand. "I was lucky, my Persona Aife is human. Apparently that's a rarity." Devyn nodded, "Well, that's interesting. But I'm exhausted from tonight, I think I'm gonna go find somewhere to sleep."

Kitty tilted her head, a cute little habit she had, "I thought you were staying with those kids." He shook his head, "No, I can't stand to be near them anymore. Ever since I got here, they've either looked at me like I'm pitiful, or a monster. Then they wanted to take Boss' ring." He laughed, "Looks like I've come full circle. Back to being an abandoned battle-crazy street rat." The Wild Card had begun walking as he spoke, but had to stop when his former lover grabbed him from behind, "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, but if I let you stay Boss would kill you, then me. I didn't know this would happen when I convinced her to take you back then, I swear." Devyn turned and stroked the girl's cheek, brushing away a tear, "Don't worry about me, Kitty. Just stay safe in here, I know you had a problem killing back in the day." He gave her a quick peck on the cheek, turned, and left for the access point. THOU SHALT HAVE OUR BLESSING WHEN CREATING PERSONAS OF THE DEVIL ARCANA.

A shirtless foreigner wandering the streets isn't a common sight on Port Island, so the few people Devyn passed stared at him. He had no idea where he was going, but he knew he wouldn't go back to the dorm. After a couple hours, he had made his way into a back alley nearby the station. There, a bunch of delinquents had gathered to drink, smoke, and otherwise appear menacing. Naturally, they didn't take kindly to Devyn's arrival. "What the hell you doin' here, kid?" The Wild Card ignored him and jumped onto a trash can, resting his head against a wall. Of course, the adolescent didn't like that, "Hey you little shit, listen when someone talks to you!" Devyn had his eyes closed, but he could hear him and his friends standing up, "I do listen when a person speaks, but I won't waste my time with the incessant squeaking of alley rats." A couple girls sitting nearby giggled at the insult, which caused the punks to get even angrier, "Why, you..." Devyn rolled to the side, getting to his feet just as a fist went speeding past his head.

The punk's knuckles rammed into the brick wall, and he began spitting curses as he clutched his probably broken hand. "Such is the fate of rats who try to bite the lion. Now leave me be, I've had a long night and I need some sleep." Unfortunately, the delinquents weren't in the mood to resolve things peacefully. "I'll put you to sleep forever, you asshole!" The American waited a moment, then just leaned to the left to avoid the punch, then threw a right straight that shattered the punks nose. "Compared to the things I kill," He said, "you kids might as well be moving in slow motion." All the boys' bluster disappeared at the mention of death, and they quickly collected themselves and left the alley, followed closely by the gossiping girls. "And with that, I can rest." Devyn unwrapped one length of cloth to use as a blanket, then bundled the other two together for a pillow and settled down to nap until the sun came up.

Once the sun rose, Devyn hurried back to the dorm, climbing up the fire escape to his room. He waited until Yukari showed up to check if he'd snuck in last night, then entered and piled a bunch of clothes into a sack. He wrapped his weapons in one of his cloths and left them on the bed, in plain view of anyone who looked. He grabbed his uniform and his computer, then paused. Even if he was pissed at them, he couldn't just silently leave. And if he was being completely honest, it was more an attachment to one person keeping him than friendship. So he stalked out of his room, upstairs, and quickly scribbled a note. He used the knife out of his boot to pin it to her door, then stood back a moment. The message was simple, and hopefully something she would understand, since he'd said it when he first came to this place. "I'll always come back for you, mon amour." He then returned to his room, grabbed his things, and left.

He spent the rest of the day looking for a hotel to stay in. Unfortunately, the only vacancies were in a hotel on Shirakawa boulevard, and the whole aura read 'hinky'. But he'd be damned if he'd stay in the dorm anymore, so he went inside, payed for a month in advance, then made some veiled comments to the joking man at the counter about 'getting things ready'. He tossed his stuff into the room, then went out to see a movie. Luckily, he'd stocked up on cash from those briefcases lying around in Tartarus, so he wouldn't have to worry about going broke from all of this. He stepped out of the theater a few hours later and thought about getting something to eat when he noticed a little redheaded girl dressed in Gothic style staring at him. It unnerved him a little, but he wasn't exactly the most unnoticeable fellow, either. So he waved, smiled, and took off on his way. -


	6. Masked Hero

Devyn spent the next few days away from the rest of SEES. This of course meant skipping school, and he knew Mitsuru would be throwing a fit about that, which made it all the more satisfying. He also stayed out of Tartarus when the Dark Hour came about, though once he stood on a nearby rooftop and watched his companions enter the tower. They seemed to be getting on fine without him, and that suited the Wild Card just fine. It wasn't like he cared what happened to those sniveling brats. No, instead he spent his time chasing down stragglers outside of Tartarus, growing accustomed to his knew talent, until the backlash was more manageable.

He was wandering Palownia Mall, for what reason he wasn't sure, when he noticed an alley running under the karaoke bar. Normally he wouldn't give the alcove a second thought, but as he turned away from the sight, he noticed a slight blue glow begin to pulse from out of the darkness. Suddenly, he remembered a rather drunken conversation with the inhabitants of the Velvet room. "I wonder," he murmured, "what kind of power can be created, instead of found." DUDE, YOU REALLY LIKE THE DRAMATIC CRAP, DON'T YOU? "Well, no duh, Ogoun. It makes things more interesting, even if it does make me sound like a complete tool." And with that, he slipped into the alleyway, producing the Velvet key from his pocket along the way.

"Welcome, my dear guest." Yeah, Igor was still way creepy. But at least he seemed to have forgotten Devyn's last visit, "I assume you are ready to make use of my assistance?" The American nodded, "Of course, Igor. But I'm not sure how the whole process works." Igor waved a hand dismissively, "Easily remedied. Simply focus on the personae you wish to fuse, and bring them to the forefront of your mind." Okay, Devyn thought, simple enough. He quickly brought the images of Ogoun and Forneus into focus, and blinked in awe as two tarot cards bearing their likeness appeared from thin air. "Nice presentation." Igor merely smiled, and waved his hand over the cards. A magic circle flared to life on the table, and the cards began floating upward in a lazy spiral. "Is there any way to hurry this along? Not that I don't appreciate all the magic and mystery, but I've got things to do." Igor looked down his long nose in a most impressive display of irritation, but dropped his hands back to their usual place below his nose, and in a flash of light, a new card slipped to the table. "Thank you. Now, let's get a complete new lineup before I leave..."

A while later, Devyn stepped free of the Velvet room with a smaller set of voices to listen to, and a rather refreshed feeling, "Kind of like spring cleaning for the brain." A rather insulting way of putting it, but yes. "Now, now," he said, "you know I didn't mean anything by it." And that is the only reason you don't have a serious migraine right now. He rolled his eyes, "I appreciate that." He flipped out his phone and powered it up, recieved his usual alert that he had missed quite a few calls from SEES, and checked the time, "Only a little while until the Dark Hour. Anyone up for a little exercise?"

And that is how Devyn ended up on the roof of the Port Island Station, dressed in a plain black hoodie, jeans, and cowboy boots, waiting for midnight as he gazed at the full moon. Why the station? There's hardly any people here late at night. He rested his head in his hands, "True, but I've cleaned up the rest of the island already. And I figure there are probably one or two Shadows who might take a bite from the delinquents in the back alley." Then why are we not over there, watching? "Because they get freaked out whenever they see me now." Then the sky turned green, and something rather interesting happened. Off in the distance, he could see a train that had just taken off. But for some reason he felt like something wasn't right with the picture. So off he went to investigate. As he neared the rear car, he saw what had set off his instincts, "Now, who leaves a door open on a speeding train?" A posse? He blinked, "Well yes, but seeing as there are no horses around, Hoss, I think I'm gonna bet on Shadows." Fine, if you wanna be obvious about it...

Devyn just shook his head, "Well, if we're gonna walk into a trap, we're going in armed. Who's up for a good time?" Yo! Before he could reply, a man similar to his height appeared, hands in the pockets of his black leather jacket and sunglasses holding back his scarlet hair. "Kalfu, huh? Alright, let's roll." The evil loa grinned wide and vanished into Devyn's skin. The now familiar lines sprang up, this time a deep violet. "Okay," he paused, his voice sounded rather strange. "What the hell happened?" What, you thought I was gonna put on YOUR ugly face? The Wild Card quickly clambered up the ladder and dangled off the side to check his reflection. Sure enough, under his hood the shadows had deepened to completely obscure his face, leaving only shining yellow eyes visible. "I should be numb to all these surprises by now." And yet you never are. This time he absolutely refused to let the loa provoke him, and instead slipped the rest of the way into the train. It was only a few seconds before he realized something was not right, but before he could even reach the next car, he heard familiar voices coming down the rails.

"What would a Shadow be doing on a train, anyway? Where's it going?" Junpei asked. "How should I know? Look, just hurry up, would ya?" Yukari's still a stuck-up child, huh? Big surprise there. Rather than deal with the annoyance of meeting with them, he borrowed Kalfu's power and quickly wrapped himself in darkness. As he tucked himself into a corner to wait, Yukari's head popped up from the doorway. But before she could enter, she turned back and said to Junpei, "Don't look up." Which, Devyn thought, was a great way to make sure he did just that. But he kept his silence as the pair made their way inside, and waited until Yukari voiced her suspicion, "We're not at a station, but the doors are wide-" And just like in a bad horror film, the door slides shut with a bang.

Devyn silently laughs at the panic on their faces. See how much worse off you are without me, he thought. I may not have been perfect, but I kept you two kids alive. He sat in smug silence while they spoke to Mitsuru, then began making their way to the front of the train. Once they were out of hearing distance, he chuckled, "Well, well. Not how I planned to spend my evening, but in the words of the immortal Johnny Cash 'Get rhythm when you get the blues'." That made no sense whatsoever. "Sure it does. Screams of pain and fear are musical, too. Let's follow the music makers." And he strolled on into the next car.

Devyn followed behind Junpei and Yukari easily, neither of them willing to rush too far ahead of the other. That is, until a Shadow fell right on top of them and ran ahead without fighting. Ever the hotheaded one, Junpei wanted to chase after it right away, but Yukari and Misturu were against the idea. Devyn silently counted down from three, until SEES' magician stormed off on his own. Yukari stared in irritation, then huffed, "Stupei. I really wish Devyn-kun was here..." That surprised him more than if Junpei had come strolling back in a dress. But before she could say anything else, more Shadows emerged and she was quickly fighting for her life. Leaning against an out of the way coffin, Devyn could tell that she wasn't going to be able to hold her own on this one, and debated on the pros and cons of helping her. It wasn't until she fell to the floor, her bow over by the door, that the decision made itself.

Calling darkness was easier than ice was, but much more tiring. You had to hold back the light to let the absence fill itself. Kind of like moving a mountain by blowing at it, simple but difficult. But the difficulty was well worth it when the Shadows were simply devoured, leaving small bits of loot scattered on the floor. Yukari picked herself up, eyes darting to find her savior in the darkness, and Devyn let his cloak fall free. She gasped and fell back, reaching for her evoker. "Useless." Devyn said, and with an effort of will sent the gun flying from her hand with a gust of wind. Devyn heard Mitsuru's voice from Yukari's earpiece, "Takeba! What's going on?" Her voice was shaky, "There's another Shadow, it's stronger than the others! I think it may be like those cloaks!" Devyn felt a twitch of irritation, but inspiration struck before he could answer her.

Stiffening in mock offense, he said, "I am not of those ruffians you encountered. I have no quarrel with insects such as you. Do not think to insult me further, lest I become upset." Mitsuru's voice came through the earpiece again, but he was intent upon Yukari's face, which flashed with anger before she became afraid again. Her eyes went to her bow, and Devyn laughed, "You think your weapon will save you from my ire? I have witnessed your skill, young one, and I am not impressed. You lack the reflexes of an archer." He slid an automatic from the waistband of his jeans, slid a round into the chamber, and held the weapon out in invitation, "But a gunfighter, you may yet become. Your eyes are sharp, and you are swift. Pulling a trigger may be a better fit than drawing a bowstring."

Yukari looked at the weapon, mistrust written all over her face, "Why would you help us when you trapped us in here?" He laughed again, "And who said that it was I who captured you?" He set the gun within easy reach, then stepped over her, "Take it or not, the decision is yours. But every moment wasted with me, your friend is plagued with more enemies." And with that, he grabbed at the shadows again, and was gone from her sight. He watched her as she stared at the gun, her eyes darting back to the bow sitting by the door. Finally, Devyn became bored of the internal struggle and helped her make her decision. He reached down, very slowly, and gently snapped the string on her bow.

The twang snapped her out of her reverie, and Yukari finally stood. She snatched the Beretta from where Devyn had left it, checked the safety, and ran off to help Junpei. About damn time, I thought she would never make up her mind. "She's one of those girls who thinks being pretty makes up for her lack of personality or intellect."

Sometime during the night, the train had begun to move, barreling towards another, more inert obstacle. Junpei made the predictable remarks about Yukari's change in armament, but quickly adapted to the situation, and together they made their way to the front. Unfortunately, when Devyn laid eyes on the rather large Shadow that awaited them, he regretted not leaving the girl another clip. He stood in silence as they battled the creature, dodging the paper blades of her hair and flinging fire and wind, neither having much effect. Yukari showed remarkable promise with the firearm, landing the last of her shots squarely in the Priestess' mask. But all too soon her ammunition was used up, and she was batted to the side by her enemy.

Junpei managed to hold out for a minute longer, but the combined attention of the Shadow and her summoned minions was too much for the beginner swordsman, and he too was worn down. "Damn," Junpei said, "this can't be it! We gotta keep going!" He struggled to regain his feet, but a blast of ice caught him around the ankles, and he fell hard. It seemed to be the end for them both, and Devyn considered letting them take the fall for this. But beneath his black hoodie, the silver chain he wore suddenly burned hot. He hissed in pain, dropping his camouflage. "You're still forcing me to be the good guy, huh? Fine." And he stepped forward, holding his arms out wide, "Sister! It's so good to see you. I'm sorry to have to cut your fun short, but I need these two alive for a while." The Shadow stared at him silently for a moment, seemingly unable to figure out what to do with this new intruder. "Still so indesicive, eh? Not surprising, I suppose. But if this train continues, these two will die, and my fun will end. I can't let that happen."

With a hard push, Devyn created a shaft of dense black with a slight curve. He tried to grasp the improvised katana, but a burning coldness tore it's way up his arm, causing him to flinch back. So instead, he conjured another shadow sword, and with Kalfu's wind magic set them to rotating around him, he also used a small platform of wind to bring his body a few inches off the ground. Final Form from Kingdom Hearts 2? "I thought it was pretty cool," he muttered. Gay. was his only reply. With a shrug, he charged the Shadow, sliding in range before she could counter, and with a gesture sent both blades slashing into her skin. The shadows tore long furrows into her skin, and a shrill screech escaped from her lips. Her hair began thrashing in random directions, but a few explosions of air caused the dangerous ones to miss their mark.

He glanced around for the minions as he dodged back, but they had apparently been torn to shreds in their mistress' attack. He tried to close once again, but the Priestess fashioned a sheild from her hair, which bristled and slashed him when he approached. Taking a different tactic, Devyn quickly molded one of his swords into a black doppelganger and sent it around to flank. The poor creature took the bait and lunged, only to have her appendages burned as they pierced the decoy. Meanwhile, Devyn had gone in the other direction, and leapt to bury his blade into the Shadows right eye. The shriek was louder this time, but quickly began to fade as the Shadow dissolved.

Breathing heavily, Devyn let himself back down to his feet, "Wow, throwing that much power around is tiring." But much more fun than doing without. "Totally." He turned to find that Junpei was back on his feet, facing him with his sword at the ready. Yukari stood behind him pouring healing magic into his back. "You'd better hurry," Devyn said casually, "the train will hit in a few seconds." And with that, he disappeared. As soon as he was out of sight, he slumped against the far wall and watched as Junpei went running into the cockpit. The screech of brakes followed a few seconds later, and he smiled as the two made their way back to where Mitsuru was waiting. No doubt they'd have quite a few things to talk about back at the dorm, and he almost wished he could be there to hear it. 


	7. Search and Rescue

A few days of recovery find Devyn lying in his room at the hotel, and three personae hanging out. "This is starting to get boring." he whined. Kalfu, slumped against the wall, nodded, "No kidding. Being the newest deserter from SEES made it pretty fun for a while, but the novelty is beginning to wear off." The girl sitting on the edge of the bed piped in, "So what are you going to do about it?" Devyn shrugged, "I was thinking about going back to school, messing with Yukari and Junpei. But that just doesn't seem to be enough. There has to be more interesting things to do here." An old man stuck his wizened head out of the bathroom, "Have you delivered those gifts to the ladies?" The Wild Card smiled, "Yup. Two boxes of ammo and a few clips for Yukari, and thirteen vases of roses for Mitsuru."  
Kalfu laughed, "You are really cheesy, man. But who am I to judge?" The girl slid from the bed, "Go ahead, but the other you over there will just judge the other way. I'm the only vote that counts right now, and I think it's sweet." Papa Legba stuck his head out from the bathroom again, "Don't pick on either of me, Mamman. You know it's not nice." Devyn sat up, "Will you goofballs quit squabbling? The devils of the crossroads and Death's wife ought'a be able to get along a little better. Now What else can we do to spice up this little adventure...I GOT IT!" The three personae had already started laughing as they saw the idea in Devyn's head, and he threw himself from the bed and was out the door in an instant.  
Just like he thought, Devyn found Shinjiro Aragaki in the back alley near the station. He mentally switched over to Kalfu for the subconsious intimidation factor, and swaggered over, "Yo, Castor!" Shinji's head snapped up in shock, then he quickly smoothed his expression into it's usual sneer. "What the hell do you want?" The American dropped onto the stair beside him and glanced around at the crowd watching him. "You know," he said loudly, "I never took well to being eyeballed. Makes me angry." That was enough to clear the space really fast, and Dev settled more comfortably on the stone step. "I recently left SEES."  
Shinji just grunted, and Devyn decided to continue with his recruitment speech, "Had a bit of an event with some Shadows and I felt it best to gain some distance from the group. But I noticed that even with the team taking down Shadows at the source, there are a good many of them feeding on folks around town. I've been doing what I can, but recently I feel that some help might be necessary. I know you're aware of your Persona, and you don't help SEES, maybe I could convince you to work with me." The kid stood and began to walk off, "Forget it. I'm not interested."  
Devyn summoned Kalfu in his Persona form, a red-skinned demon with black teeth, right in front of the youth. The sudden appearance pushed him back a step, and he glanced back at Devyn. "I always knew you were a weakling, but I didn't think you were a coward, too." The flash in Shinji's eyes threatened violence, but Devyn pressed on, "Your power is a twin to Sanada's, power without control, and vice versa. But to throw away that power is just plain irresponsible. How many people could have been saved if you had been there to protect them?"  
"And what about the one who died because I WAS there?"  
"Then you're insulting their memory by refusing to atone." The simple statement gave him pause, "Make yourself stronger, Aragaki. Become someone who can stand for people who can't. And prove to that poor soul that their death wasn't senseless." He pulled the ring from his pocket, holding it in his outstretched palm, "This will give you perfect control over Castor, but I warn you now that it comes with a price." The former SEES member couldn't take his eyes from the ring, "What price?"  
"First, it will cause you extreme physical pain, but it will pass after a while. And next, once you start here, there is no getting out. I will have to kill you before you leave." That got his attention. Nice touch, I think this will spice up the game nicely. "This ring will infuse your physical body with the power of your Persona. Which means you will become Castor, with your own self-control. I can teach you to handle the power, but it's your own choice to become a part of this." They stood (and sat) in silence for a while, neither moving, until finally Shinjiro took the ring from Devyn's hand and slipped it on. "Welcome aboard," Devyn said, "now we'll begin."

"Why the hell are we in the school?"  
Devyn stared at the ceiling, "We need to get into Tartarus without SEES bothering us, and they are always right by the front entrance when the tower rises. Don't worry, I've done this a few times before already." They were silent for about a minute, then Shinji began tapping his foot, "Stop that, it's irritating." He glared from under his beanie, "Why should I?" This time Devyn did look at him, "Because the reason why Castor can't be controlled is because you can't control yourself. Constantly letting your anger getting the best of you, always being contrary just to prove that nobody is your boss. It's nothing but childish foolishness, but it's gonna get somebody killed." He watched Shinji digest this new information, then reluctantly sink back to wait patiently.  
"Your Persona is you, without all the masks. Remember that." He nodded, and a rumble rising from the floor signaled the onset of the Dark Hour. Devyn grabbed the table and watched in amusement as Aragaki began pinballing around the room. When everything died down, Devyn pulled the dizzy teen to his feet and said, "Come on, it's time to begin your lessons." He threw his hands forth and his Personae went running down the hall in their human forms, screaming at the top of their lungs. "I'm going to stand here," Devyn said, situating himself in the middle of a four-way intersection, "your job is to keep the Shadows from reaching me. Focus your mind, and summon Castor, but instead of summoning him into the world, release him into your own body."  
The Wild Card watched as Shinji tried repeatedly to do as he was instructed, and he could see the irritation rising in his face. Just then, the sounds of approaching enemies could be heard. "Better hurry," Devyn said, "or I'm going to have to punish you for failing." That broke the boy's concentration completely, and he stood facing Devyn for a few seconds too long. Before he could do anything about it, a tank Shadow came barreling around the corner and straight towards Devyn. But just as the monster would've hit, the Wild Card flared white and leapt overhead. He landed atop the turret, and held his hands in front of him, palms facing each other.  
A stream of electricity sparked to life between them, and as he passed his hands down along either side of the turret, the metal melted away. As the chunk of metal began to fall and dissolve, he pushed the arc together and began to wind it into a ball. "Oh, Aragaki-san..." He glanced over his shoulder, "you fail." He tossed the ball into the air over the disabled tank, and it exploded into a net of lightning, which wrapped itself around the shadow and released a shower of sparks and ozone. The machine dissapeared and the net evaporated with it. Shinjiro seemed astonished at the sight, and Devyn held his hand up to display the markings all over his arms, "This is the proof that I've merged with my inner demons. There is no chance of my power going berserk, because I have to make the decision to use my power." He let the marks fade, and felt the backlash begin to set in. But as he had already used Legba's light based abilities a few times already, the blindness was reduced to a slight blurring of his eyes. "But I'm afraid you fell short of my expectations tonight, Aragaki. I'll expect you back in school tomorrow as punishment. You'll go every day, and if you miss even one, I'll take it to mean you wish to 'terminate' our agreement." He could feel the tension rise in Shinjiro, and smirked inwardly. "But enough of that. We'll get out of here, and go practice your focus." He brought Kalfu forth, swaddled them in Shadow, and used one of his Traesto Gems to bring them to the entrance to sneak past Mitsuru.  
She had a rose in her hair.

And sure enough, Devyn saw Shinjiro lurking off to the side the next day. And everyday after that they would attend school regularly. Neither spoke much, even when cornered by the SEES members. On one occasion Devyn busted Junpei's nose. The magician link throbbed its reversed status in Devyn's mind, but he didn't care anymore. The midterms came and went, and the Wild Card found that his new ally was pretty gifted himself, placing second under Mitsuru.  
An especially sunny day found Devyn cutting last class in the branches of the persimmon tree outside when he heard a couple of snobby girls talking about picking on someone. Since he's been such a jerk to the SEES team recently, Devyn didn't really think he had a leg to stand on when arguing about bullying, but it still irked him that someone would pick on another for no good reason. He swung down from his hiding spot and smoothed back his (now even longer) hair. He slithered up to the girls and cleared his throat, "What are you ladies talking about?" They jumped at his sudden appearance, and he even seemed to surprise Yukari who was standing off to the side. "It's nothing, just stupid stuff." One girl answered. But Devyn was having none of that and stepped closer to the tanned girl, glaring, "I didn't ask if it was stupid or not, I asked what you were talking about." Most girls don't like when a glaring man invade their personal space, and this one was no different. She backed away until she hit the stone wall and Devyn slammed a hand into the wall next to her head, "Answer, please." She seemed nervous as she stuttered, "W-we ah, we were just messing with this girl in our class and..." Devyn cut her off, "Who?"  
"F-fuuka Yamagishi." Devyn raised his eyebrow. Everyone had been talking about how she had been out of school for the past few weeks. "Well, you'd best apologize to the young lady, shouldn't you?" He said. "We can't," the girl said, "nobody's seen her since..." Hearing her trail off like that piqued his interest, and he redoubled his attempts to intimidate her, "Since what!" The sudden fire in his voice provoked a squeak from the girl and she said, "Since we locked her in the gym at night! Please don't hurt me!" Right then, Yukari showed up with Mitsuru in tow, talking quickly to each other. Devyn decided now was a good time to back out, so he pointed to Mitsuru and said, "You don't want to get hurt then confess your crime." And she leapt forward out of Devyn's reach to tell Mitsuru what she had told him. While the student council president was busy with the girl, Devyn made his escape out through the gym.  
After school, Devyn and Shinji were at Hagakure eating when the American said, "Get your gear, Shinji. We're going into the tower tonight." Shinji glanced at him, "Why? We haven't been in Tartarus since you first gave me the ring." Devyn shrugged, "There's been a disappearance. A girl named Fuuka Yamagishi was locked in the gym in the middle of the night and hasn't been seen since. I'm afraid she might've been sucked into Tartarus somehow." Shinji accepted that explanation and finished his noodles before walking out to prepare. Devyn spent some time playing with Maiko at the shrine before meeting Shinji behind the school building with their gear. "So, how do we get in?" Shinji asked. Devyn took a key ring out of his pocket and began testing keys in the gym door, "I pickpocketed the janitor the other day. He thinks he's lost them, and I'll just randomly drop them once we're done. He'll find them and that's that." As he finished speaking, he pushed the door open and stepped inside.  
The darkness made the space seem larger than normal, but otherwise did little to the pairs perceptions as they settled down to wait for midnight. Devyn found a shinai left out from Kendo team's practice and played around for a while until the black turned green. He quickly reached for Kalfu and jumped to grab a beam on the gym's cieling. They rode out the transformation and opened their eyes to find that they had been separated. Shinji just shrugged and began walking, figuring he'd either find Fuuka or Devyn soon enough. Devyn on the other hand, found himself standing face to face with Kitty. "Hello beautiful." He said. Kitty smiled warmly before slapping Devyn hard, "I told you not to come back here, Dev! What if Boss had found you instead of me?" Devyn rubbed his sore cheek and said, "It can't be helped, Kitty. I think someone may have gotten trapped in here, and I need to help them."  
"Yeah, the girl's here. But why does that matter to you? She's not really your type." The Wild Card grinned and pushed a lock of her hair out of her eyes, reaching for one of the hair pins she always had on her sleeve. As he pinned the offending hair back, he said, "That's not the point. She needs help and, whatever path I decide to follow, I can't just let somebody suffer while I can do something about it. It's not in me." She looked at the boy's face, "You've grown up a little. Maybe I picked wrong when I chose Gadget." Devyn stepped back and crossed his arms, "Maybe you did, but it's too late for that. I trusted you and you couldn't even be honest with me. Whatever we had is gone, Kitty." She nodded, "Of course it is, I'm just saying. But here." She tossed him another ring, this one with more jagged lines on it, "Don't put this on yet. It's a little different from the Magatama ring and you need to be prepared for it. So far you've been taking on the weakest powers of your Persona, so there hasn't been much change. But this will allow you to absorb more powerful traits. The downside is that it'll mark you permanently."  
Devyn looked at the ring in his hand before slipping it into his pocket, "Why do you keep helping me? Won't the Boss be mad if she finds out?" Kitty smiled and tilted her head, "Maybe I think you're worth the risk." And with that, she disappeared. "Hello?" Devyn swung around and grabbed for Legba as a young green haired girl came around the corner. "Ah!" She ducked back around the wall and Devyn dropped the power, "I'm sorry, please don't run. Are you Fuuka Yamagishi?" She nervously looked back, "Yes?" Devyn tried his best calming smile, "My name is Devyn Sullivan, I'm a new transfer student from America. I'm here to get you out of here." "Thank you," she said and walked all the way out from behind the wall. "Just follow me and stick close. I came here with one other person and we need to find him before we leave." Fuuka kind of looked like she was staring into space and said, "Um, I think he's over that way." Devyn looked down the way she was pointing and shrugged, "As good a place to start looking as any. Just don't be surprised if I do some strange things. And if it starts to look dangerous, use this." He handed her his old evoker and headed down the hallway.


	8. Extraction and reunion

As Devyn and Fuuka made their way through Tartarus, it quickly became apparent that there was a little something extra about the girl. "Wait!" she said, "There's four of those things just around that corner." Devyn pressed his back against the wall next to the corner he was just about to round and quickly looked around before ducking back under cover. Sure enough, four giant Magician Shadows were milling about less than ten feet away. He quickly nodded his thanks to her, then silently crept forward until he was just behind the biggest of them, and coalesced Kalfu's power into his hand before plunging it into the creatures back. The burning darkness began to engulf the Shadow, but not before it let out a screech of anger and alerted it's companions.

He merged completely with Kalfu's power and began his charge into the throng of Shadows. Being that these three were especially large and in a cramped hallway, most of their spells seemed to hit each other rather than Devyn. He dodged about for a while until they realized that and started trying a more physical approach. That was when he decided to try a new trick he'd devised earlier. "Yamagishi! Get behind cover!" He yelled just as some of the purple lines on his body began to turn white. Energy welled up in his body near to the point of pain, and he seriously hoped the girl had heard him as he could no longer hold the spell back. With a cry he let the magic fly, and Legba and Kalfu came flying full speed toward him from either end of the hall. Black flames and white burning electricity hit each other less than an inch in front of Devyn's face, and the destructive power exploded outward to wash over his enemies.

When the light finally died down and his sight stopped warping, he found that there wasn't enough left of his test subjects to even dissolve properly. That was when Fuuka came shuffling back around the corner. "Um, all the monsters here are gone. What exactly did you do?" He chuckled, turned away and said over his shoulder, "I summoned the Devils of the Crossroads." He picked up his pace and soon they came across the stairs. "Devyn-kun, why are we going up instead of back down?" He sat on the bottom step and tried to catch his breath, still feeling the fatigue of summoning two Personas at once, "This tower, Yamagishi, is alive. It changes every time you enter, but there's always one thing that doesn't change. There are no stairs down." Her already pale face blanched further, "Does that mean we can't get out?" The American laughed, "If that was so, why would I have said 'every time you enter'? No, there's a machine somewhere that'll take us to the bottom. We just have to find it. But we can't go until we find the fellow I came in here with."

His reassurance helped, and she faded back into silence as he stood and they ascended the stairs. They continued up three more floors, with Fuuka warning him about Shadows with enough time for him to prepare before they encountered them. He would then wipe them out and they would move on. By the time they found themselves standing in front of the transport station, he had gotten completely over the backlash from Legba, Kalfu, and Mamman Brigitte. "Okay, Yamagishi. Before I send you down, I'd like to talk to you for a moment." She turned to look at him, her eyes unfocused as she did whatever she did to sense the Shadows, then nodded, "Okay, what's on your mind?" He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms, "You saw what I can do, right? Well I have reason to believe you have a similar gift. It's not for fighting, but you certainly have a knack for locating the Shadows. My friend and I are using this power to protect the people of this city from them. We'd like you to help us with that."

This flustered her, "W-what?! Me? B-but..." Devyn sighed, "Look, I'm not forcing you into anything. But you've already proven you can handle it by surviving in this place for as long as you did. And if we could find these monsters easier, we might be able to save more people. But there are some folks downstairs who only care about the ones here in the tower. If you want to stay out of this, don't tell them about your ability. Here's my cell number, think about what I said for a few days before you reach a decision." He passed her a scrap of paper and activated the station before she could reply, sending her back to the lobby. Just as the machine kicked off again, Shinjiro showed up looking worn a bit thin but with a small grin on his face. "You snatched my Evoker before Tartarus woke up, didn't you?" Devyn chuckled, "I had a feeling you'd survive anyway."

He only had a second's warning before Shinji's body burst with orange light and he launched an empowered fist right at the Wild Card's head. He simply leaned to the side and stepped forward, slipping his combat knife from the waistband of his jeans and laying the blade on his throat. "Good, you've gotten demon merging down. Now just learn to fight worth a damn and you might be scary." Shinji seemed a bit nervous to have the weapon at his throat, but the fire hadn't left his eyes until the light dimmed and his skin returned to normal. "And just in case you're wondering, I found Yamagishi. I sent her ahead to the entrance. She's got the potential, just like us." Aragaki grunted in surprise and turned to start up the transporter, "You talk to her about joining us?" Devyn shrugged, "I gave her the option, but said to think about it for a few days. And I told her not to let SEES know about her talent for Shadow detection."

He nodded silently and kicked the machine to life, and the flash sent them down to the lobby where Mitsuru was staring wide-eyed at the pair. "Shinjiro, Devyn..." The senior of the two tried to walk off, but Devyn grabbed his coat and jerked him back, forcing him to bow as he did the same, "It's been a while, Mitsuru." The redhead fought to regain her composure, letting her cool demeanor settle around her, "So Yamagishi was telling the truth. How'd you get in without us seeing you?" The American decided to play with her a bit, "The same way I've been doing every night since I left. So Yukari's gone for guns now instead of a bow? Better fit, I must say." The air cooled for a second before the girl smirked and shook her head, "Why do I bother to be surprised by you anymore, Sullivan?" He smiled his most winning smile and used Legba's power to shape an electric flower in the palm of his hand, "Because you simply can't get over how amazing I am, of course."

The rest of SEES chose that moment to warp back into the lobby behind the pair, out of breath and clearly surprised to see the extra faces. So much so that Yukari, who had been busy changing clips out on her pistols, almost chambered a round with one still in the barrel. Devyn of course waved hello and felt the answering pulses of the reversed social links on both Junpei and Yukari, "Hi guys." Junpei had a white knuckled grip on his sword as he said, "So where the hell have you been?" He smirked and glanced around the lobby, "Here and there. Mostly around town keeping the Shadows from infecting other folks with Apathy Syndrome. Or have you gotten so wrapped up in the thrill of being an RPG hero that you forgot people are suffering for the time you spend in here?" This time it was Yukari's turn to step forward, "But that's why we have to explore Tartarus, to stop the attacks once and for all!"

Shinjiro grunted in his usual fashion, "And how do you know there's anything here that'll stop it? What if you make it to the top without finding anything and all those people died for no reason?" From the looks on their faces, only Akihiko and Mitsuru had thought of that though they'd apparently tried not to. Aragaki saw it as well and left with a sound of disgust. Devyn, on the other hand, settled back against a pillar and said, "You guys are clinging to an ephemerial hope, one that could very well blow away into dust. Try your best, but don't judge me for saving lives now, definitively. Oh and Akihiko, a word of advice."

He pushed away from the stone and tossed all of his weapons out of his pockets before closing in and landing a punch square in the nose. The boxer staggered back and stared at him in shock before swerving to the side to avoid his next punch. Finally he raised his guard and started throwing jabs at Devyn. The Wild Card let a few of the lighter punches land until he tried a straight to his jaw before ducking and planting the heel of his boot into Sanada's knee. During the confusion, the rest of the group jumped forward to try to intervene, but just like training day he dodged them easily while he continued the fight. Akihiko did his best, but the pain in his knee kept his footing weak and leeched his strength.

"See, the human body is funny. We try to use our arms as our primary defence, when our legs are three times stronger. You've trained yourself well for anyone willing to fight you face-to-face in a restricted bout." He leaned back under the boxer's right hook and once again kicked him hard in the knee. It was obvious now that he couldn't walk, so his footwork had been neutralized. "But your enemies don't care about rules. They'll take the weakness you've so expertly forced upon yourself and they'll bludgeon you to death with it. It's sad to see a man with your talents waste it on boxing." And to finish it all, he spun to avoid Junpei's rush and threw him into Akihiko's legs, knocking them both over as he strode quickly out of Tartarus.


End file.
